By: Shawnna Grace, contributing intern (@shawnnagracee) My days as a teen are coming to an end. As my twentieth birthday quickly approaches, when I reminisce about some teenage moments in my life, it has been no “teenage dream.” There are a lot of things I wish someone told me as a teen, especially being a freshman in both high school and college. So, here are seven things I want to pass on to teens that I wish I knew when I was one. 1. Love the skin you are in. Confidence is EVERYTHING! You need to love and accept yourself for others to love and accept you. When looking in the mirror be proud of who you are and love every single imperfection that makes you, you! 2. Exercise is not the enemy. Though stuffing your face with a bag of chips is way more appealing than going for a sweaty run, I promise you – not only will it make you feel better physically – but emotionally it will help a lot! So next heartbreak, bad grade, or fight with a parent instead of eating that problem away, exercise away and release that sadness and anger in a positive beneficial way! 3. Your heart is going to fall for someone faster than your brain will. Wait for the right person to be intimate with in any way, because your heart is going to fall for a person before your brain can catch up. You do not want to look back and ask yourself “what was I thinking?” because truth is you weren’t! 4. Always know where the exit is. Party and club scenes can get out of hand so quickly, always know where your exits are in case of an emergency! 5. Get involved! Looking back at my high school memories I wish I got more involved with something for school or even after. Get involved and cherish the relationships and experiences that come with the ride! 6. Go against the grain. Don’t be afraid to be unique and different. People will think that your ideas are dumb and stupid until you start making money, and then all of a sudden you are a genius! Go with your gut not the grain! 7. Your crew reflects YOU. It’s not about what you’re doing, but what it looks like you’re doing. Watch whom you hangout with because – if you are hanging out with a troublesome group – you are going to be labeled as a trouble teen too! Who you hangout with is your choice, and you want to find the group that will have the most positive effect on you and your life for the best. As my teen days are coming to an end, I am happy to give these simple tips and lessons to learn and live by. With tips like this, your teenage years will be positive and will be some of the best years of your life. The most important thing to remember is that life is short and you only live the life you are living once, you have one chance to make an impact on this world and you want to do it while having fun. So, have fun, life your life, live by these tips, because life is what you make it and time flies when you are having fun! Here’s to the teenage years and to making them the years to remember!
