Dear Maria,

You're really struggling, and that's okay. I understand. People at school are being mean, they're giving you a hard time, making it difficult to find the desire to go to school. They make you feel like trash. I just want to tell you something: it get's better and you will make it out alive.

You have problems. You have imperfections. You know it, and everyone else seems to notice them, too. Your classmates like to point out your flaws, call you names and make jokes that you never find funny. The people who find the need to point out your imperfections aren't worth your time. You feel like no one sees your true worth and value in the world. You don't think you're the prettiest girl either. To everyone in school, you aren't, but to me, you are.

You hate high school and you'll hate it for the rest of your life, but you'll grow to accept how those years impacted you. The four years you spend in that building and the people walking its halls do not define you. Those four years before college are horrible, but I am who I am today because of the things that have happened and will happen to you during them. You'll learn life lessons from your teachers and peers that will stick with you for the rest of your life. I'm not talking about how to identify the prepositional phrase of a sentence or how to solve for x. Those things don't matter. What does matter is that you'll learn forgiveness when you have to accept the actions of the bullies, you'll learn compassion when you go on a retreat and learn about the horrible events that have impacted your fellow classmates, you'll learn to open your eyes and appreciate art when you take a field trip to New York City. Trust me, it's all worth it.

Don't worry about never getting invited to parties. There are enough parties in college that don't require invitations. High school dances are boring. Don't waste your time fretting over never having a date to one. Prom isn't worth the stress. You'll be able to laugh about how horrible your experience there was in a few years. The votes for senior superlatives mean absolutely nothing after graduation. You don't win anything, but the people who do can't put it on their resumes. You won't win a position on homecoming court, either, but absolutely no one you'll meet in college will care. I'll repeat that for emphasis. No one cares what happened to you in high school. The friends you have now won't be your friends after graduation. You'll find a ton of new friends in college who won't care about your past and how awkward you used to be because, news flash, they were awkward, too.

People from high school, even some you barely knew, will try and contact you when they see how well you're doing in college. You're going to turn into a girl who people wished they were nicer, too. There's so much ahead for you to look forward to, just keep your head up.

You're going to blossom into a super cool, hilarious, adventurous and passionate person with hundreds of amazing opportunities at your fingertips. Everything gets better eventually. It might take a few days, a few months, or even years. Don't ever give up and never forget that you're worth it. Stay true to yourself, continue to work hard in school and sports and just know that the opinions of others do not define you at all.

Love you lots,

Maria