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Write a letter of advice to your son/daughter upon entering high school

Hello son/daughter,
Hopefully I would have raised you in such a way so that you don’t need this letter to have a positive high school experience, but if for whatever reason this letter is needed here it is.

High school can be an intimidating place, but it can also bring great memories and lifelong friends. I think there can be a shopping list of advice I can give, so to keep this short so you will actually read this, I’ll share what I think is my best piece of advice. I think the very first thing to realize before you enter high school is that nobody (and I really do mean nobody) in high school truly knows what they are doing.
Everybody is high school is doing their best to try to fit in and not get called out by the group for being weird. Everybody is as lost as you are in many respects so you should never take what a person says for granted. Think critically about what a person says (including yourself) and why they said it. Try to be objective as previous biases can easily color your interpretation. Digging for this insight will help you navigate through relationships easier, whether it is choosing who you want to associate with or realizing that Mark is under a lot of stress so he is acting really cold and saying things without thinking about it. So don’t get trapped with a fixed mindset about others (good people can do bad things and bad people can do good things), give people the benefit of the doubt.

Be kind to others, explore your limits and pursue your interests. I would say high school is where you begin to build up your identity, but it is by no means established. Try your best to get a realistic gauge of where your limits are. Be wary that you may under or overestimate yourself at times, and that the only way that you can truly know your limits is if you just try it. Don’t think you can debate? Just try it. Don’t think you can dance? Just try it. From these experiences when you are not completely comfortable are where you actually grow and gain insight of yourself. The exciting part is that once you have established where your boundaries lie, you can choose what you want to improve on! You have the autonomy to choose who you want to be. You don’t have to know how your future will look, but you should always keep it in the back of your mind (if you don’t, I can will happily point you in a direction :) ).

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