Being 15 years old is not easy for anybody. From the awkward hair, to the awkward face, to the awkward body… Okay, really, everything is awkward at that age. Whether you’re a good student (like me) or are more into extracurricular activities, being a teen isn’t easy. There is so much that we aren’t sure of, yet at the same time we have so much hope for the future. And, of course, so much stress about it.

Now that I am (cough) older and wiser, there are a lot of things that I wish I knew at that age that would have made those early years so much easier. Sure, there was the quarter-life crisis I had at 25 (and the things I would have said to myself then, too) but 15 is such a tender age that I really wish I could go back to my high school days and whisper in my own ear a few of the secrets I know now that I am 32 years old. From giving myself a chill pill because it’s okay if I don’t have everything figured out by then (or now, for that matter) to acknowledging that it’s okay to like girls to encouraging 15-year-old me to try the scary things, here are the 22 things I would say to my 15-year-old self now, if I could.