A Letter to my 16-Year-Old-Self
What I wish I’d known when I was younger
For most teenagers, secondary school feels just as challenging as climbing Ben Nevis. The girls are nasty, the boys just want to show off, and you feel like the world is on your shoulders, and that’s before even doing any actual school work. Those five short years of secondary school feel like they last forever, and seem so important, but the reality is, they go by in the blink of an eye. I left school five years ago now, and although I know that at the tender age of 20, I have so much more to learn, if I could talk to my 16-year-old self, this is what I’d say.
Popularity in school means nothing.
There’s a lot of playground politics in secondary school, and so much of this politics revolves around who is popular and who isn’t, when in reality, it literally means nothing. When you leave you’ll meet people who like you for you, not your popularity ranking.
GCSE results aren’t the be all and end all, although your teachers make you think they are.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying don’t try, but school isn’t for everyone, and you might have so many other skills that you can explore later in life that maths lessons don’t really uncover. Personally, I didn’t mind the academic side of school, but I know that’s not the case for everyone, and let’s face it, has anyone used Pythagoras’ theorem once since leaving school? I highly doubt it. Your GCSE results don’t determine who you are or what you can do with your life.
You’ll realise who your true friends are when you leave school. Leaving year 11 and meeting new people makes you realise who you were friends with because you actually like them and who you were friends with just because you saw them every day. You’ll quickly realise who your real friends are when you see who makes an effort to stay in contact with you, but also who you want to make an effort with.
On a slightly more serious note, one thing I really wish I knew when I was 16 is that you don’t have to do everything your friends are doing just because they’re your friends. Whether it’s your first kiss or something more serious like losing your virginity. Everyone does things at their own pace, and just because your friends are doing it, it doesn’t mean you should too, and if they make you feel inferior for not doing something, then trust me, they aren’t your friends.
I’d also tell my younger self that even though it may not seem like it, anything your parents do, they’re doing because they love you and want you to be safe. So as annoying as it may seem when your mum won’t let you go out all night whilst your friends are probably all in a field somewhere, she’s doing it because she loves you, so don’t be annoyed with her.
The biggest piece of advice I’d give my younger self (which my mum did actually give me at the time, but I ignored), is to pick your battles. Not every argument is worth having, you need to learn to let the little things go, and once you do, life is that little bit easier.
So, if I could go back, that’s what I’d say, I’d probably give myself an ever so slightly less orange shade of foundation too.
