I'm going to be turning 19 in a week, and it's crazy to think that it's already been 3 years since I turned 16. I remember being so excited to get my license and start dating! Now, I realize that driving is overrated and guys are, for the most part, immature. Looking back on when I was 16, I used to think that everything that happened was so important, and I used to get upset over the littlest things. I used to think that not winning a tennis match or not wearing the right thing to school were life and death situations. I now realize that those are mundane things compared to making decisions about who I should date and what school I should choose to get my masters degree from. So, to my 16 year old self I would say: Don't stress! Everything will work out the way it is supposed to! You're only in high school where everyone thinks that prom and clothes are the only things that matter. I really don't mean to make it seem like these things were never important to me, because at one time, they definitely were. I remember getting so upset because my prom date, junior year, backed out on me. This would probably still be somewhat upsetting to me. Being able to go to college just made me realize that there are so many other people in the world! You don't have to think that if you don't date a lot in high school that you're never going to date anyone. I rarely went on dates in high school, but college is so much different and much more exciting! There are so many more opportunities to meet new people and make new friends.
I would also tell my 16 year old self to pay better attention to the things you are being taught both in school, and at church. I don't think I realized how important getting good grades was. I never got bad grades, but I realize now that I should have tried harder and taken more AP classes to get further ahead in college. I also never realized the impact my leaders and the lessons they taught me at church would have on my life. I always went to church whether for my parents or myself, it was always one or the other, but I noticed when I left home that it wasn't up to my parents to wake me up on one of the two days I had to rest from school and go to church. It was completely up to me. I had so much freedom! I never needed the gospel more than when I left home, though. I didn't really have any friends right when I moved so I chose to go to the one place that had always been there, and always would be wherever I chose to go: church. I met some of my best friends at church and at church activities. I was able to have the influence of the gospel and be around the people that I had grown to love...it was the best of both worlds!
Lastly, I would tell my 16 year old self to not take her family for granted. Having to leave my family this past year was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. I don't think I had been away from my parents for more than a week before I went away to school. The two hardest people to leave, other than my parents, were my nephews. I had lived no less than 5 minutes away from them for the past 5 years. Leaving them was devastating. Waking up and realizing that I wasn't in my bed at my house everyday was hard to get used to. If I hadn't have made the friends that I did, who pretty much became my family while I was away, I don't think I would have made it. I really can't say enough how thankful I am for them. I pretty much just have to praise modern technology because without my phone and Skype, I would have died. Thankfully I was able to talk to my mom everyday, whether I wanted to or not! (for my mom who's probably reading this: Just kidding! I always love talking to you!) I just wish my 16 year old self had known the difference between what was really important and what was trivial. I am so thankful for the experiences I have had over these last 3 years, and I hope to learn more and more as the years go on!
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