1. Go on a road trip

Getting out of the house and going on an adventure without your parents, whether it's a day long or five days long, is a blast. Being able to play whatever music as you want as loud as you want as you cruise down the highway with all the windows down is worth the gas. Pick a few friends and a place you've never visited and get the heck out of dodge. Do something that you wouldn't normally do.

2. Have a job

Anyway you look at it, having a job sucks, but there are a lot of lessons you can learn from working. Working forces you to learn how to function with other people. People you like and most importantly people you don't like. Working helps you learn how to work with people who are in charge of you and it teaches you manners that a lot of people are forgetting.

3. Do service work

A lot of teenagers today don't realize how little other people have. There are so many people in the cities in towns that we live in who have so much less than we do. Realizing this is essential to being a decent human being, and, working with or for these people is a different story. When you do something for someone else just because you want to or you feel as though you should, it can really change your perspectives on life and privilege.

4. Journal

Keeping a journal is a hard habit to get into, but once you get used to writing things down it gets much easier. Not only is journaling a form of expression, but an outlet. It's a way to get things off your chest without actually having to say them out loud or to someone's face. You can literally say whatever you want because no one is going to read it but you!

5. Learn to cook

Even if you're going to live in a dorm and eat in a dining hall for the next four years, it's still something every teen should know how to do. Waking up in the middle of the night to eat a home cooked meal is way better than anything you could get out of the freezer department at the grocery store. Plus, you could impress that guy or girl you've had your eyes on.

6. Go to a concert

Sometimes I still can't believe that there are people who haven’t been to concerts. Concerts are religious experiences for me and a way of life. Any chance I get, I'll go. There's just something about them that makes energy course through your veins, especially when it's a band you love.

7. Go to a football game

How people make it all the way through high school without seeing Friday night lights (not the TV show, the real thing) is another thing I can't understand. First off, football is my life. Second, football is a way of life. You can always pick the football people out of the student section, but the reality is, anyone can be a football person. Even if you don't know what is going on, it's still fun to be there and cheer on your school. These are some of my favorite memories and I would hope that no one would pass it up.

There are so many amazing things that happen throughout someone's high school career. It's such a busy time filled with so many things to do. Doing a little bit of everything is the best way to make memories, but the most important thing that teens should do before they leave for college is grow. They should grow and change into better people. By learning, making mistakes and fixing those mistakes, we can all be better people. This is what I've found to be the best way to survive high school.