What My Teenage Years Taught Me

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Today I’m feeling a little nostalgic. My teen years were a whirlwind of dance performances, hair straightening, love, and loss. I decided that today would be a perfect day to round up the lessons I learned from the years that made me who I am today.

Best friends might not be forever, but that’s ok

People aren’t just put in your life for a reason, but also sometimes for a season. The teen years are a prime time for relationships to come and go, and it’s best not to fret over it too much. I learned a lot from the people that were (and are) my friends from my teenage years.

Follow your passions, even if they are different from others

In middle school, my passion was for choir even though that wasn’t what a lot of my friends were doing. It sounds silly, but doing my own thing then helped me to be more comfortable with following my passions in the future. Plus, I can sing all four harmonies for ‘Carol of the Bells’ so like…mess with me.

Boys aren’t always like the boys in the Taylor Swift songs

And that’s because they’re boys. And you’re 13. So chill.

A purple smokey eye is not for you

’nuff said.

When it feels like “the world is ending”, it probably isn’t

I stressed and cried over a lot of things in my teens. My big economics project, my dance auditions, fights with friends….and here I am today, still standing and living to tell the tale. In some of those moments when my stress level was at a 10 and I had the zits to prove it, I felt like nothing would ever get better. I have to remind myself this often nowadays – everything will be fine. The world is not ending. This just sucks. I will get through it.