18 Solid Pieces Of Advice Every 2018 High School Graduate Needs To Hear

“Don’t be trapped by dogma—which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.” – Steve Jobs

1. Spend time with your friends, and choose your new friends wisely. Remember, lie down with dogs, rise up with fleas.

2. More importantly, spend time with your family. At the end of the day, they are the ones who will always be there.

3. Negativity breeds negativity, eliminate people with that type of influence. You will lose friends as you get older, and that’s okay.

4. Be humble. You’re no longer an “upperclassman.” College is a whole new world, but it’s a beautiful one.

5. Don’t compare yourself to others. Ride your own wave.

6. Never hesitate to ask questions. You’ll look smarter and be smarter. “He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever.”- Chinese Proverb

7. Don’t be discouraged. It’s okay if you don’t have everything figured out, you’ll get there.

8. Embrace failure. Everyone makes mistakes, what’s important is to learn from those mistakes. Thomas Edison made 1,000 attempts at making the light bulb. When a reporter asked him how it felt to fail 1,000 times, his reply was “I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.”

9. Appreciate being young, and don’t rush into adulthood too quickly. YOLO. 

10. Sure, high school was great and you should cherish those memories. However, your best years have yet to come.

11. Do what makes you happy. Chase your passion, regardless of its potential salary. Follow the career path that makes you happy, not rich.

12. Speaking of money, stay the hell away from credit cards. You’ll end up with more debt than you can handle, and there’s no guarantee you’ll marry rich.

13. Don’t text and drive. Don’t drink and drive.

14. Stay grounded, remember how intelligent you are, and trust your gut.

15. Don’t put anything on social media that you may later regret. Of course, you can remove it, but you can’t delete the countless potential screenshots.

16. Pay attention to everything around you. Keep your eyes open and your head up.

17. Have fun. Take risks. Try something new.

18. Make memories. Write things down in a journal. Take pictures and actually have them developed.