I've always been very interested in opening up to other people's unique opinions and views, so recently, I talked to seven girls (sophomores) who attend the high school I go to and asked them four questions. These girls all have different friend groups and hobbies but are also all trying to get through these crazy roller coaster years. Their answers are all anonymous and are listed below, followed by an explanation of what on earth my point is by asking these questions.

What is a piece of advice that you are currently living by?

"Don't listen to other people/ Be yourself."

"THE GOLDEN RULE!! Always treat people the way you want to be treated. No matter the difference in friend group or hobbies, everyone is equal and deserves the same amount of love."

"Being nice makes you a happier person."

"You become what you always think about."

"Animals feel just as much pain as we do."

"You don't owe your happiness to anyone else but yourself"

"Don't live the same year 75 times and call it a life."

What does it mean to be a friend?

"[A friend is] there no matter what [and] supports you no matter what and loves you. No judging."

"Probably just someone who you can laugh with and someone who you can trust with all your secrets. Someone who can give you advice and tell you the truth even when it's rough to hear"

"To support them no matter what, even if you don't agree."

"Being there when they need you and not being judgmental in their low times."

"Being there for someone unconditionally."

"To be someone that they can rely on and being able to be a support for them."

"Know when to be there, be able to laugh together and be yourself. Know that you can go to them with anything without being judged or having your trust betrayed."

Do you follow your head or your heart?

"[In] certain situations I listen to one or the other or both, but mostly my heart because it's just more accurate."

"Head, because it's easier to listen to."

"My heart because I know my head is too logical for the life I want to live."

"Follow your head so you have the time to follow your heart later."

"[Heart], I'm a very emotionally driven person because I feel like your gut is always right."

"Usually head because it's more logical, but you know that heart gets you sometimes."

What do you hope your life is like ten years from now?

"Living a good life with a job and starting a family- and being able to support them."

"Just married, successful job and many friends."

"Making my own money and not relying on a man for my needs. Plus feeling happy and accepting of myself -- and partying occasionally."

"[I just want it to be] 100% hate free."

"I want to be married and out of college by then; probably going into something with psychology."

"I hope to be experiencing the world and have a pet cat."

Looking at all the different answers really got me thinking about how, while some answers were really similar, some were completely different, and I thought it would be fitting to bring something up. My AP psychology teacher said something the other day about something called the False Consensus Effect, which is defined as a "popular social phenomena where an individual believes that own beliefs, [etc.] are held more widely within a certain population than they actually are." In other words, people tend to believe that their opinions and views are more popular than they are, or are shared by a majority of people. We know that there's a certain idea about the way and order in which your life should happen. As if your decisions on college, your career, marriage, etc. are mapped out from the second you're born -- as if they aren't really your decisions. It says in order to be a successful or good person you must do what "everyone else" is doing, as if everyone else is actually doing those things. I whole-heartedly believe that a person's worth isn't at all measured by these things, but by the way they treat other people and the world itself. To me, loving and accepting other people will always be more important than your personal choices, and what reason would you have to dislike or judge a person who treats all others with love and care?