I’m not here to tell you how sad it is knowing I’m in my last weeks of high school. I’m not here to tell you that high school really is the best four years of your life. High school should not be the peak of your existence, and I’m really happy to say it’s not mine.

As a freshman, I came into high school caring about everything. I cared about myself, and I cared about other people’s business. Students can say they don’t care about other people, but everyone does. And, to tell you the truth, caring so much is exhausting. Don’t you agree? High school is already hard, why do we make it so much harder on ourselves?

When I clawed my way into junior year, I had one goal. Just to stop caring. For people who know me, I’m sure you understand that for me as a junior, there was a lot of things that I should’ve cared about. Because people care about gossip. But honestly, I didn’t.

So, here goes my list of lessons for all of you high schoolers reading this who still have a couple years left in this blood bath.

Lesson number 1 – Stop caring. Four years, despite feeling like it goes by in a blink, is a decent chunk of time. You’re bound to hear gossip about you, and you’re bound to get wrapped up in drama you want no place in. The easiest way to navigate these halls is to ignore everything you hear. If you don’t want to deal with something, then don’t! It really is that simple. You aren’t going to be surrounded by these people for the rest of your life, so why should you care what they want to think about you for a week or so? (And gossip usually only lasts that long, because there’s always new people to talk about).

Lesson number 2 – Good people don’t care. In high school, most people really care what people think of them. Some people rather believe the rumors in order to protect themselves. It doesn’t matter how much you grow to like someone, or how much you think they like you. You’ll just meet certain students who won’t want anything to do with you because they’re worried what other people will think. Don’t hold grudges, and don’t stay angry. Just cut them off. Those people aren’t worth it.

You’ll find people along the way who don’t concern themselves with what they hear. They choose to believe in you, and it’s those kinds of teenagers that will stay with you through thick and thin. It might take a while to get to the place you want to be, but don’t be impatient. It takes a really long time, and sometimes it’ll feel like far too long, but you’ll get there.

Lesson number three – Do what you want. You’ll regret not stepping out of your comfort zone for the stupid reason of being worried what people will think. This lesson can even be interpreted into smaller things. Do you have a crush on that boy? Go for it. Is there one person who you know is talking bad about you? Confront them. Take control of your own life and don’t let other people determine your choices.

My final lesson, lesson number four – always look forward. There’s going to be a plethora of times that your life will feel over. I dealt with some incredibly horrible things that I thought I would never get past. But here I am, about to graduate, with an awesome future college under my belt.

You will survive everything that gets thrown your way. Just remember that time heals everything, and in a month or two months, whatever is ruining your life will be a thing of the past.

That’s my life changing, high school altering advice to every student, from every grade, who is reading this. You too can survive the four most average years of your life if you practice some of what I preach. Good luck, and don’t worry – college is supposed to be much better (I’ll let you know).