if I had a time machine, I would travel back in time to....
Fifth Grade:
When you are in fifth grade you rule the school. You are the "Big kid." If I could go back in time, I would tell myself you are not as old as you feel. Being 10 years old is nothing compared to when you somehow end up 19 when you swore you were just starting Kindergarten. I would tell myself this is the time of your life. you don't have a lot of homework, you still have one class, and the hardest thing you have to do is long division (Which is still hard for myself as a college student). The hardest thing about Fifth grade is probably having a bed time, and not being able to stay in elementary school forever. I was a girl who did not want to go to middle school.
6th G rade:
6th Grade is when your life changes. When you enter the halls of your middle school. you enter a whole different world. When I walked into my middle school, I didn't know what to expect. There were new faces, and new things. There were girls in my school who had "Blossomed" (I had been one of them, actually I had been one of them since 3rd grade). And there were boys. Boys were different now, because they were "growing up" Too. It seemed like once I stepped into middle school, everyone was dating someone else. By dating, I mean holding hands as you walked to class and having your parents drop you off at home. That was something else. You gain your independence as your parents allow you to be dropped at the mall for three hours by yourself. The first time I went to the mall was with my best friend, and we both felt so independent because we didn't require our parents to be with us, although they still gave us money to go shopping with. If I were to go back to 6th grade, I would remind myself I am not as cool as I seem. Just because you are in a new school and are older than the elementary schoolers, you are not as cool as you seem. Also, remember not to try and grow up too fast. You don't need a boyfriend in middle school. they don't count anyway. I would remind myself, that believe it or not, middle school does not matter. College will not be looking into what you did in middle school, when I don't think its even possible to see what your grades are.
8th Grade:
Yes, when you are in 8th grade you are so old. You are going to be in high school next year! But while you are here you might as well enjoy the fun 8th grade activities you are allowed to participate in. You also might as well enjoy watching all of the 6th and 7th graders staring at you with envy as you walked to your eighth grade locker. If I was going to tell myself of something as I was in 8th grade, I would remind myself, although I was on top of the world, like in 5th grade, I was going to start at the bottom again. I would also tell myself not to be afraid of high school like I was. Just because you were going to a different school doesn't mean you are going to lose your friends or be anything but you! Although you are going to be be going to a school that is atlas four times bigger than your middle school, that doesn't mean anything is going to change.
Freshman Year:
Yes, you are the shit. Literally. You are in high school. You are in the big kids school. Elementary schoolers run from you because of how big you are (Thats not funny I promise). But it is probably the moment in your life when you realize you only have so long before you have to go into the real world, and start acting like an adult. If I were to tell myself something about high school, it would be that none of this is going to matter in ten years. I would tell myself high school does matter, and you need to buckle down.
Senior Year:
Yes, for me it was literally four months ago I was still on top of the world, but now here I am starting back on the bottom for the fourth time. I would still tell myself certain things if I had the chance to go back and tell myself what I have learned over the last year of my life. I would tell myself it honestly won't matter. What happens to you in high school, it won't matter by the time you are 30, married and with children. The boys/girls who you say you love then they go and break your heart? They won't matter. The girls who you called your best friends then they stabbed you in the back? They won't matter. The boys you crushed on at work? They won't matter. Although you stayed up countless nights wishing you were were with the "perfect guy," by the time you are married, you will be committed to the perfect guy and that boy from senior year will be a memory. Remember to live your life, because you don't want to have to look back on your life, and regret decisions you made when you were eighteen.
Love,
Meredith