Senior year has been one of the best years of my life. All the things I’ve experienced taught me many valuable lessons about myself and life. When you are 18 and in the real world, you start to see how it really is. Along with being an adult in the eyes of society and the real world drawing closer, life starts to kind of open up. It’s like I’ve been living my whole life near-sighted and I put on glasses for the first time.

“Believe in yourself, and be yourself” is my motto. If I learned anything senior year, it’s not that supply and demand is dependent on the natural rate of unemployment. I learned the most valuable lesson of all and that is to be yourself, and not care what anybody thinks of you. I lived my whole life caring what people thought about me, and when I finally learned to not care, I felt free. As for the “Believe in yourself” part of my motto goes if you don’t believe in yourself, how are you going to accomplish anything? Believing in yourself is the first step in accomplishing your goals. If you aren’t confident in who you are, you can’t expect anyone else to believe in you.

So whether you’re a senior or a freshman, listen to my words. I promise you life will be ten times better if you use my advice. These are the first steps to completing your goals and having a better, happier life. And if at any time you feel like nobody believes in you, have faith in yourself.