This post was inspired by 35 Things I Wish I Would Tell my Post-College Self
Now that I’m a wise, old junior in high school, I can look back and laugh at my lanky, brace-faced self. Below is a list of 35 things I wish I had known back in the good ol’ days when I resided in the building of triple-digit room numbers, and my biggest worry was whether people would notice if I repeated a bat mitzvah dress.
1.) Wear your rubber bands so you can get your braces off more quickly.
Credit: Robert Newhouse
2.) Don’t be so violent during handball games in P.E. classes. It’s just a game.
3.) Latin gets significantly harder after learning “Caecilius est pater,” so mentally prepare yourself.
4.) Having assigned seating during lunch isn’t the end of the world.
5.) Begin creating specific study habits that work for you in order to prepare for the tests you will have to take in high school. Don’t rely on “winging it.”
6.) Appreciate having lunch at 11 a.m.
7.) There is no such thing as a “better advisory.”
8.) You don’t need to start getting ready for dances at 4 p.m. All you have to do is put on a little eyeliner and walk out the door.
9.) Profile picture likes shouldn’t be a competition.
10.) Having your face appear in a bat mitzvah montage really isn’t a big deal, so stop pointing and screaming.
Credit: Grayson Brower ’15
11.) Most “Hey” “Hey” “What’s up?” “Nm you?” “Same, nmjc” conversations will soon progress into something more substantive.
“No way!”
12.) Photos/videos you take on your computer’s Photobooth with friends will soon put you to shame.
Credit: Hayley Mogul ’15
13.) Middle school dances in church basements should not be the highlight of your weekend.
14.) The people you meet at middle school dances will become your lifetime friends.
15.) Meeting up with boys at 3 Guys after school isn’t all that exciting.
16.) Your clothing style will change drastically, and you won’t look like a Lester’s model at all times.
17.) Make your screen name something you won’t be embarrassed about in a few years **No shopaholic123, tennislvr1996, or anything of the sort.**
18.) You will soon realize that most of the fights you have with your friends are insignificant in the grand scheme of things. You will make up and laugh at how petty they were one day.
19.) Save all your bat mitzvah photos for when you get an Instagram, so you have a plethora of possible TBTs.
Credit: Adeline Dubov
20.) You’re not too cool for trick-or-treating just yet.
21.) Any breakup you encounter is not the end of your relationship experience. There are plenty of other fish in the sea!
22.) The 8th grade Washington D.C. trip will be a great bonding experience for you and your fellow sisters.
Credit: Caitlin Pearson, Poly Prep ’15
23.) Who you sit with on the bus for field trips shouldn’t start fights among your friends. Just switch it up on the way back.
Credit: Hayley Mogul
24.) Your perfectly choreographed dance for lip-sync will inevitably be kind of out of sync come performance time.
25.) Stop talking about where you want to go to college because you’re going to change your mind a million more times before you even apply.
26.) Let the spirit you have during blue-white events continue into high school instead of letting them fizzle out.
Credit: Caitlin Pearson
27.) You will one day be humiliated by the videos you make on your friends’ Facebook walls.
28.) Don’t make your Facebook status inside jokes that you and your friends came up with because no one gets it!
29.) Adhere to the uniform so you don’t have to take a trip to the Middle School Office for wearing a skirt that didn’t pass the notecard test.
30.) One day, it will be assumed that BBM stands for Baked By Melissa and not Blackberry Messenger.
Credit: @new_fork_city
31.) Don’t be ashamed of your lanky, awkward stature. Everyone will soon catch up to you.
32.) Don’t gasp and stop everything you’re doing every time the song “Don’t Stop Believin’” comes on. That song is older than you.
33.) The spray-painted apparel and give-away items from bat mitzvahs will make great pajamas.
34.) Spread out the number of times you go to the guidance counselor during class. She’s starting to catch on.
35.) Stop wearing plaid headbands in your hair; you are not and never will be a Gossip Girl character.
