Arianna Huffington, Editor-in-Chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, would tell her younger self, "Do not let negative experiences--and there are always plenty--get in your way...Many of what seem at the time to be your biggest setbacks will end up leading to your biggest opportunities, and in ways you can't predict."
Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan offers the following words to her younger self: "Learn from those who walked the road before you, but carve your own path. So be different, explore the twists and turns on your way, and don't fear the occassional fall -- it is part of every journey."
Fabiola Gianotti, a physicist, would tell her fifteen-year-old self, "Always find the time to do something for other people."
Robin Bernstein, a historian and published author at Harvard University, says, "Relax and let the future arrive on its own time and in its own way. Allow yourself to be astonished."
Reading through these responses, these clever and endearing words, I was inspired to write a little advice of my own. I think being surrounded by teenagers on a daily basis has provided me with an especially keen insight on the topic. I am reminded daily of what I wished I had realized and known sitting in those high school classrooms.
If I could go back, I would tell the 15-year-old Kelsey one very important thing:
Don't be afraid to be different.
While I think the desire to fit in is a pretty natural one of teenagers, I feel such pride in those students I have that go against the grain, the students that relish in their differences and quirks. They are so interesting.
I know I was interesting, but I wish I had known it then.
View the CNN article here
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