Dear 15-year-old self,

You are wild, reckless, and caring. You have the world on your shoulders and the boys at the heels of your feet. You live in the present and run with the wrong crowd because it is fun and adventurous. But, please just remember not to get wrapped up in the wild side of life to much and to focus on school every once in a while (by school, I mean homework, not gossip).

High school is an extraordinary experience that you won’t miss, but is a huge part of your life. You will have friends that will leave and it will hurt. It will even change you in a way that helps you grow. But, know in that moment you will not believe that it will get better, but it really will. People will gossip about you and may even tease you, just stay you. If I had the knowledge that I have now when I was your age then you wouldn’t question why those friends never stayed or why a girl you never met hates you. New friends will arrive making you ever wonder why you let you old friends get to you and not treat you well. Being in “that” clique won’t matter after graduation and into college. Those friends that thought were going to last a life time may not and your plans may take a twist and change.

College is different from high school. I know you don’t truly believe that you will make it to college, but trust me life is filled with surprises. Just like how you never believed that you would move into another house. But, that happened. It is hard to explain college is stressful and makes you wanna cry, but it is also exhilarating and helps you find yourself. In college, you will bond with the basic things and mom. Believe it or not, mom will become your best friend and you will be wanting her to call you even though now you find it annoying her every day calls. She just loves you and worries. Just answer and give her a chance (it wasn’t her fault she had to ground you).

There is a saying that goes along the lines of, “be the person your past self would’ve needed to count on." Sitting here three years later, I finally feel that I am the person you would’ve needed. I have grown and pondered many thoughts not thinking it was possible for me to be who I am today. I am who I am today because of the mistakes I have made and I have learned from them. So thank you to myself for being reckless, because those mistakes are how I am who I am today.