As my junior year of high school comes to an end, I feel there is much to reflect upon and much advice to be given to my younger peers.

There are those days when you feel that you will spontaneously combust if you must go to school and sit through seven hours of people talking at you, while nothing sticks inside your head. To my fellow over-achievers: it's okay to take days of rest and relaxation (or catch up), especially if you have a hard load of classes. First, explain to your parents what's going on. If you're a hard-working student, they will be sure to understand that one day off will help your mental health. Try to take a day off when you know that not much will be happening in your classes and don't take too many days off. Also, don't skip school if your parents won't let you, just try to focus as much as you can and try exercising to give your brain the oxygen it needs and deserves.

Don't ever forget that anything is possible if you truly want it. Often times the goal is crystal clear, but the path is a bit undefined; so define it.

In my experience, all-nighters are hardly ever worth it unless it's some kind of a physical project. If you're pulling an all-nighter to study for a test, or put together an oral presentation, or finish your homework, go to bed! You're brain is crashing as you try to cram all of that knowledge into your head. Be kind to your body and it will be kind to you.

Make friends with people you like, not people who are seemingly cool or popular. This is not to say that seemingly cool or popular kids are bad friends or jerks or anything. It simply means that you shouldn't pick your friends based on their image. Also, don't wait around for people to come talk to you and become your friend. Compliment someone, help the kid who sits next to you in math, or join a school club.

To juniors especially: make friends with your teachers! Teachers like kids who do well in their classes, but knowing them on a personal level can be supremely beneficial as well. When college applications roll around in senior year, your teacher friends can vouch for your academic excellence, charming personality, or both!

Find something you're passionate about. I don't just advise this in regards to college admissions, but more so as an idea to follow for lifetime benefits. High school can be much nicer knowing that there is something in your life that you love to do, where you can exceed as well. I know students who are madly in love with math, or running, or theater. These types of people are by far the most interesting, and often some of the brightest, people I have met in high school. My passion is writing, but as a tormented artist, I find it difficult to share my passion with my peers without them being overly encouraging (yes, there is such a thing). I feel that having a passion, having a hobby that you truly love to do expresses the true beauty of humanity. We are not creatures that sit around and eat all day; we create, we act, we help, we think, we live.

Don't be so determined to grow up and get out of the little hick town you live in. You have no idea how time flies and how all your memories of your four years in high school can be blurred by feelings of anger and a desire to leave. You are still a kid, whether you like it or not, so be a kid because it most definitely won't last forever. Of course you can keep acting like a kid well into you're old age, but the lack of consequences will most likely never appear again in your life.

High school is what you make of it, as are all things in life. You are bound to make mistakes, and as much as you may want it, your high school experience will not be impeccably perfect.

I leave you with an amazing quote I found a couple of years ago, from the movie 'Hope Floats': "...beginnings are always scary, and endings are always sad, but it's the middle that counts the most. Try to remember that when you find yourself at a new beginning."