An open letter to every 19-year-old girl:

Right now, you have a strong desire to graduate from college and attend law school; don’t give up on that. Even if you get a few bad grades along the way, don’t let that ruin your dreams.

And let me just tell you something else, if you decide a year from now, or even next week, that you don’t know what you were thinking, and law school isn’t the best decision, that’s okay too. And, you still don’t have to give up on it. Leave it out there as a possibility, and decide when the time comes. You don’t need to plan out your whole future right now.

Imagine 10 years from now. I’ll lay it all out for you:

Let’s say, 10 years from now, you followed your current dream, and you’re a lawyer. Maybe in Washington DC -- wouldn’t that be exciting?

You’re happy and healthy. Every so often you have a bad day, or week, or maybe longer, but everyone has those ups and downs. Don’t get too down on yourself.

You want to know what got you there?Self care.

You put yourself first when classes were stressful or that boy was being an a**.

You asked for help when you needed it. Because it sounds almost counter productive, but part of self care, is relying on other people when you need them.

Remember that time, you were feeling really over whelmed, maybe in tears already, or maybe you were, just about at that point? You know the one, right before the full fledge breakdown?

You called on a friend for help; you thought she might not want to hear about, all your problems. *Eye roll* Guess what? She did want to hear from you, and she did want to hear you go on and on about your day in all the gory details. Okay, maybe she didn’t, but she’s your friend, and those are the things she’s there for.

You asked for help. All those times you showed up to therapy appointments. Or the times you called and made emergency ones. That simple act of showing up -- those were some of your strongest moments.

You took care of yourself. All those times, you said fu*k it in public. and you cried in front of random strangers. Because you learned, it’s important to let it all out.

You enjoyed the little things in life. Remember that day you were running late for a meeting, and you had classes back to back? As you were running down the stairs, you ran into your best friend, whom you hadn’t seen in a week.

Remember what she said to you? She asked, “What do you have right now? And, when are you done for the day, because I have presents for you.”

And remember how that lit up your morning? It wasn’t because you had a present waiting for you. It was the way her face lit up, when she saw you. It reminded you that even on those crazy busy days, with meetings and classes, all at basically the same time, you have people surrounding you, who love you. People who care about you, and want to spend time with you.

I know you think you do, but you don’t have to have everything figured out right now. You’re 19 years old, and you have your whole life to figure things out. Always take care of yourself first, and don’t stress, just let things happen.