The best advice I have ever received is a quote from my dad. “Fear not”. Now I know I should have listened to his advice earlier. I was always afraid of what someone would think of me or trying new things. Because of this, I was a very shy and quiet child. That didn't help when I went from an eight grade class of 42 to a high school with a class of over 550. I wasn’t outgoing and didn’t make many friends who I saw outside of school my first year and a half.. I was rarely happy and didn’t really care about anything, and you can see it in my first semester grades. Then I decided I would stop being afraid. I started making friends who I did things with outside of school and could really have a good time with. I learned that by being myself, you will find people who like you for who you are and ever since then I have been getting happier and happier. This last summer has been the best of my life and I have a much more positive outlook with ten times as many friends as I did two years ago. I have realized no matter what you do someone will be there to criticize you but that should not slow you down. Look past them to the people who support you because “The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself” (F. D. Roosevelt, March 4, 1933)