I saw this on another blog, so I decided to follow suit.

Dear 17-year-old-me,

You've spent a lot of time ranting about how you hate your family, your town, your school. When you go to college, you'll realize just how good you had it growing up. That even though your parents weren't perfect, they did the best they could for you. Your problems now won't mean anything in six years. Stop worrying about guys. Stop worrying about finding a boyfriend; learn to love yourself as you are. Develop your own interests and hobbies and please, cool it with the black eyeliner. It doesn't suit you.

You'll join an improv group in college. You'll perform on stage in front of people. Yes, you. You who has severe stage fright. You who in middle school didn't ever raise her hand to answer a question because she didn't want others to hear her voice. And you're going to work at a TV station. Didn't see that one coming, did you? You never thought you'd be anything other than a cashier at a grocery store. You'll finally get paid to write and you'll be somewhere that challenges you every day. It's going to be tough. You're going to work weekends, holidays, early mornings and late nights, so enjoy the schedule you've got now. And you'll only get two weeks vacation, so savor those summers off from school while they last. Sometimes you'll feel like a failure. You're not. Sleep it off.

You won't figure this out till it's too late, but keep your mouth shut sometimes. Really. It's a small world, and the same people you tell off might be ones you run into at the gym or at the mall. Learn to enjoy people while they're around; so many of your friends will move away. Your grandmother is going to pass away sooner than you think, and you're going to regret not asking her about her childhood.

You'll learn to like football. You'll love the South. You'll be able to pay all your bills and you will relish in your independence. And all the times where you thought you looked awful in pictures? You really didn't look that bad.