Dear Teen Me Contest Entry

Dear Teen Me,


Here are some things I thought you should know:

About Friends
Remember that treasure hunt that your friends said would be silly, but it turned out to be one of the best times you had together? Do more of those things, have ridiculous tea parties, and go for more walks with them. Tomorrow they might be too far away to reach.

About Leisure Time
Five hours spent playing Playstation now is a victory in TV custody, but later in life the guilt will repeatedly elbow you in the ribs after the third hour.

About Judgment
Don't take to heart the opinions of people that don't know you. I know you always wonder what it'd be like to shout something back at them, but I'm proud that you never did.

About Being Shy
You're going to go to pubs; you're going to go to night clubs; and, yes, it's going to be terrifying and awkward, but you do it anyway for your friends, and they'll always remember that.

About Finding Your Way
Younger Me, while a one-man army sounds awesome, you are only one person.

About Family
Two teenage girls sharing a room isn't exactly a model for world peace, but it gets better.

About Family Friends
You sometimes won't know when someone's saying goodbye.

About Training as an Artist
Dig out last year's folder. See the difference? Every time you draw, you improve by a tiny fraction.

About Money
You still don't have lots, but it doesn't bother you very much, because you're too busy living.

Love
You know the Beatles song, "All You Need is Love". Love sums up all the best things in this life.

About Computers
When your computer starts to make noises like it's preparing to take off, that's when you move everything to your flash disk.

About College
On the first day everyone will sit out on the front green and have a conversation about Final Fantasy VII. You'll think you've gone to geek heaven. That sounds great, but it'll be tough. Friends will leave, classes will be packed, computers will be in short supply, animation will push you to the limit as a slow and meticulous artist, and the five to six hours of busing it every day will be too much straight after the Leaving Cert. You'll quit before Christmas. Working for a year as a till operator will push you to your limits again, but you keep your smile in place no matter what.
As a shy person, all this probably sounds terrifying, and it is, but you'll come out stronger because of it.
When you return to college, you do all the traveling for three years, you do the work, and you just about scrape by with a pass at the end of it. I won't lie - you definitely weren't born to be an animator; you're far to slow, and you're an illustrator at heart; but don't you dare sign up for the graphics design course instead. You'll love all the things you'll learn (especially Photoshop, 3D Max, and Flash), and  the essays you hand in for film studies will rekindle your love for writing and lead you to a writing course. There'll be no more busing after that, and the pass you receive this time will have a distinction at the end of it. You'll then take your art and writing and work to become... Ah, I won't spoil it.


So here are some last words of advice for my shy, anime-loving, sugar high mini me: your shoes aren't that interesting; walk with your head held high. Try to think of other people first and from their point of view; it makes things much, much easier. Don't take yourself too seriously. And lastly, I don't think you did that bad, kid.