Dear Past Self

     Dear 2012-2013 Mikayla,
     As I type this, I am a senior in college getting ready for my final semester and trying to make difficult life decisions that will determine what I am going to do for the rest of my life while helping one of my greatest gal pals look at wedding venues. You are a senior in high school and the editor in chief for the Silver Spur Yearbook with the only thing you have to worry about is making sure your staff meets the deadlines and making sure that you fill out your FAFSA.
     As you get ready to embark on an exciting journey of college and scholarship applications, I want to impart on you some advice I have learned over the years:

1. Don't put off your college applications until last minute. You'll regret it.
2. Actually DO your scholarship and grant applications. Do NOT just skip some because they have an essay. WRITE THAT ESSAY!
3. It is A-OK that you do not have a boyfriend... Focus on your work, make those A+.
4. WRITE! Always write, do not give up the one thing you love because you do it for the yearbook. 
5. Finish that novel. So what if you think it might be bad-Finish it. And then edit it. 
6. Do not take people so serious. Learn to let it roll off your back.
7. It is okay to not know what you are going to do with your life. (Side note-I JUST realized what I wanted to do my spring semester of my junior year of college)
8. Those friends you have now MIGHT not last your freshman year of college... Don't stress though-You meet some stellar friends along the way.
9. Do not hesitate to talk about what your feeling. You may feel like you're a burden, but you're not. Do not bottle those emotions because they will explode and that will not be good. 
10. Do not be afraid of change. Change is necessary and sometimes the best things in your life come from you making a change. 

     It is okay to be scared for what is going to come once you walk the stage and go to freshman orientation. It is okay to be scared to choose a major and it is even more okay to change it once or twice. It is okay to be scared to lose friends or loved ones. And it is even okay to stick to your comfort zones every once and a while. 
     But what is not okay is being scared to try something. Or giving up on an idea that you really really like. It is not okay to not stand up for something you believe in. So stand up for your beliefs, for your rights. Stand up for your friends. Stand up for yourself because no one should push you down, but if they do, if you ever feel like you cannot stand back up, know that you can. And you will. 
     You got this-even if you do not feel like it. 
     Until I am you,