High school involves constantly experiencing new things. Going to dances, meeting new people, getting involved in new clubs and sports; it is filled with new opportunities that you wouldn’t ever get anywhere else.

During your time in high school, I know how much you struggled. You had this battle happening within you that kept you from having the courage to be yourself. You fought with yourself every semester, every week, every day, to try out for that team, to audition for that musical, to join that new club, and every time, you told yourself no because you didn’t think you would be accepted. You thought you would be judged.

I’m here to tell you now that you deserved more from yourself. You have so many good qualities that people deserved to see from you and because of your battles with yourself; you didn’t share them with the world. Your teenage years are a constant learning experience. You find out the things you like, the type of people you fit well with. It is the biggest time of self-discovery and instead of finding your happiness, you found yourself doubting every move you made.

As you leave high school and enter your first year of college, things don’t get any easier. You experience so much that sets you further back than you were before. You are harder on yourself and spent more time picking apart every move you make. Just a simple conversation with someone left you thinking for hours what you should have said but didn’t. You spent your life wondering when things were just going to feel easier. You spent every moment wondering when you were going to be able to just enjoy life like everyone else was.

I wish someone was there to tell you back then that these are worries you don’t need to have. Your number one priority should be living your life, enjoying your life, finding your adventures. It is going to take you a lot of time to realize this, but you will come to a point in your life where you make your decisions to make yourself happy, which is what you’ve deserved all along.

You deserved to know that you could pull yourself out of that inner battle. You deserved to know that you can and will be carefree and happy. You deserved to know that life is fun and you don’t have to analyze every step of the way. You deserved more than self-doubt. You deserved to love yourself.

If I could go back and give you one small piece of advice, it would be to chase every opportunity and chase every adventure you can find. Because each moment you get is a once in a lifetime moment and you deserve to enjoy them. Keep your head up and when in doubt, just smile because with each day that passes, you become closer to finding the person you want to be.