What advice would you give to your teenage self?
A wonderful and a terrible time, those teenage years. Dear teenager, enjoy, enjoy and have faith.
School
Wow, those teenage years were a struggle and, in retrospect, a wonderful time. Too bad I didn’t realize that at the time. All those insecurities really keep a teenager under control. School is of course super stupid with all the nonsensical things you learn. And then you still have to choose which direction you want to go. As if you have any idea what you would like to do later. So dear teenager, just choose something that you like and has a good basis. You can always go in a different direction later. Additional training is only educational, more life experience, so to speak.
It was super safe at primary school, always the same children in class, just a different teacher every year. And then in high school you suddenly find yourself with all kinds of strangers and you also have a different teacher for each subject. Suddenly nothing is the way it was anymore. I spent the first 2 years of secondary education at 3 different schools. I hated it everywhere, and it was too much fun at Montessori, because I only went for the first and last hour, in the meantime going shopping or chilling on a terrace somewhere.
Friends
You should also make it with your group of friends. I had a super nice close group of friends. We now live across the country, but we are still in good contact. I wish that for every teenager, because it is really nice. That really made me feel strengthened. We all went exploring together, building up life experience. Even though you no longer need a large group of friends later in life, a real friendship with one person is already super nice. Or as a teenager you only have one person, as long as you have someone you feel comfortable with.
So dear teenager, surround yourself with people who make you happy, who you can trust. Go and try a lot, within the limits, even a little outside of it every now and then, but above all enjoy it a lot. Don’t worry about school, just do your best and everything will work out.