10 things I would tell my 16-year old self.

 1. Your parents are actually pretty cool. Before you know it, you'll be calling up your parents every day just to chat because you're best friends.

2. You'll never see your high school friends again. Unless you make time for it. People get busy, move away, and life goes on. Besides a small handful of people that I text/meet up with when I'm in town/follow on Instagram or Facebook, I really couldn't care less about keeping in touch with people from high school.

3. Exclusive dating in high school is dumb. Why tie yourself down to one person when there are hundreds of other people you could get to know? Some people end up marrying their high school sweetheart, but most people could avoid a bunch of drama and heartbreak.

4. Study for the ACT test like your mom tells you to. Or else you'll end up scoring well enough to get into your college of choice, but you'll miss the mark for scholarships by a few points.

5. Take the time to figure out what you might like to study in college. In order to (help) avoid switching majors and losing time, do your research on different careers and narrow it down to a few realistic options.Also, meet with a counselor the first week of college and plan out your class schedule for the next few years if possible!

6. Stop spending money on snack wraps at McDonalds. A) McDonalds will make you fat, and B) what a waste of money that you'll wish you had in college when your textbooks come out to $500 a semester.

7. Wear sunscreen and don't go tanning. You only get one shot at keeping your skin healthy and cancer-free! And orange is an awful color on anyone.

8. Enjoy high school. Stop wishing away the days thinking that college will be so much better (which, let's be honest, it totally is). Enjoy the few responsibilities that you have and go have fun!

9. Do things you know you shouldn't more often. . .but nothing too bad! The worst thing I ever did in high school was climb on an elementary school roof to look at the stars with friends. Needless to say, I'm not a very exciting person because I don't like taking risks, haha. I wish I had more exciting stories to tell my future kids.

10. Sleep, read, cook, and serve more. Work on developing new skills and use all of that free time to do worthwhile things. Chatting with friends for hours each day is great, but it's not going to help you much 5, 10, or 20 years down the road. (Granted, moderation in all things - friends are great and totally necessary.)

 What would you tell your 16-year old self?