When you were 17...

TheMaidOfAstolat

-Give the ring back....you are too young to be engaged! (I wound up pregnant at 18, married at 19, divorced at 26)
-Keep your friends close...they never let you down.
-Don't sacrifice your ideals to conform to someone elses.
-Know that life has many bumps and hurdles along the way...but you will make it through them.
-Remember that sticking up for others is what matters...keep true.
-Stay Straightedge....best decision you can make.
-Tell Rebekkeh to not get in that car. (she died in a head on collision because I didn't take the keys from the driver).
-Stay true to yourself.

BAMA66

Choose a lucrative career path now and stick with it. You'll be glad you did later.

My thoughts also, crave knowledge and read about anything that interests you

Amysgetnfit

advice for myself & others...

-Stay in school, finish college.
-Never miss an opportunity to learn, If you pay attention you will be surprised just how big a classroom the world is.
-Enjoy being 17, 17-25 are some fun years & they go by way too fast
-Trust your gut, if something is telling you its a bad idea, it probably is.
-if you have to worry about getting caught you probably shouldnt be doing it- (whatever IT is)
-Boys grow older into men, but they NEVER grow up
-If it looks like "this is gonna hurt" it probably will....but scars are tatoos with better stories, that you wont forget how you got.
- TRUE friends you can count on one hand. (these are the people you can call at 3am in trouble & they will come bail your butt out of jail or whatever predicament you find yourself in. Throughout life you will have lots of good fun aquaintances, but TRUE FRIENDS are rare, take care of them.
_ your family may be certifiably crazy, but at the end they are the only ones you have, & you cant escape DNA!

AI1108

Figure out a way to get through school without student loans. It'll be a monkey on your back for most of the rest of your life.

^^ Second that

fteale

It's weird, the different things we would say. I wouldn't have dreamed of having sex by 17, and the thought of doing so without protection was beyond comprehension. I was still a child at 17, and in many ways still am.

sblair77

I can't think of a thing I would tell myself. How boring...
I just don't have any regrets (despite making many MANY mistakes) so I can't think of what I'd say except, "Way to go, slugger!" And I'd knock myself on the chin a little.

I agree! I did make TONS of mistakes but they were fun and I enjoyed every last minute of it. I was pretty darned good at it too.

Now I am a responsible adult that has done everything in order (schooling, work, fun, date, career, married, move-in together, working on kids) and I'm further along in my career than my friends who knew better at 17 and one of the few who didn't have a baby before marriage.

I love all my mistakes and successes. I own them.

ohwhataday

definitely trust your gut, as a previous commenter said.

TheMaidOfAstolat

It's weird, the different things we would say. I wouldn't have dreamed of having sex by 17, and the thought of doing so without protection was beyond comprehension. I was still a child at 17, and in many ways still am.

I didn't think I would either. My ex husband was my 'first' and I was with him for nearly 11 years. He cheated on me...and that's what ended everything. Also, we were using protection....but it doesn't always work...and with only one child during that 11 years is kind of amazing.

elsham

This was only 3 years ago, but...

Don't spend so much time on the computer. There's trees and air and life outside. Real people too! It's great! (Plus, it really is bad for your eyes. I wish I listened when my parents would yell "GET OFF THE COMPUTER/DON'T READ IN THE DARK, IT'S BAD FOR YOUR EYES!" My eyes are really F'd up now.)

Don't be shy. I let so many opportunities and friendships pass by b/c of this, and I only realize this now because I'm so much less shy and enjoy myself so much more because of it.

Don't care about what others might think of you, especially in high school. It really DOESN'T matter. Don't choose what you do and don't do based on what you think people will think (as in, don't give in to peer pressure and all that stuff).

You know that argument you had with a friend or that comment or even that REALLY upset you? Ask yourself if it's going to matter in ten years. Chances are, you won't even remember it in like 2 years, let alone 10, so why get upset and think your world is going to end?

Make at least 1 friend that you'll keep in touch with. I'm SO happy I did this, it really is amazing.

EDIT: I though of another one. Start figuring out what you want to do with your life by exploring DIFFERENT fields, b/c when you hit 20 and you think you knew what you wanted to do with the rest of your life and then you do some of it and realize it SUCKS, you're in trouble.

BillyC96

Don't smoke!

calibri

Don't feel like you need to decide what you want to do NOW. Take some time to figure yourself out before you commit to anything. Don't be so serious about everything, it's alright to fail once in awhile. And:

Let your dad teach you how to work on cars. He's going to die soon and you'll regret that you didn't learn that skill when you had the chance

And:

Don't be so closed and mean. People do really like you. Let them get close to you. Don't be so guarded.

I treated all my ex bf's like crap. I was a mean psycho gf. I didn't know how to love. It's sad and wish I could take all of it back. I wish I would had listened to wise older people.

Michellerw1

Don't think of your plans for your life as the be-all end-all. So many things change and you have to able to roll with them. Take care of your teeth, and remember that someday you will realize why your parents do the things they do.

bluevwgurl

Skip the two year technical school degree right out of highschool and go to COLLEGE!! Get a bachelors or masters degree. (would have saved some serious time/money/stress10 years down the road since am now starting back to college.)