What's the one thing you wished you knew at 18?

I’m 17, turning 18 in a couple of months. But I think I am qualified to answer this question.

Before becoming a fully fledged teenager, I wish I knew that grades didn’t matter and that success is based on who I am as a person and not what a couple of letters and numbers dictate me as. I am still in the process of embracing this concept.

I wish I fully understood that people will leave my life and that sometimes, no matter how badly I want our relationship to work or try my best to make it work; people will not stay. The best I can do is to appreciate the memories that we had and to move on without my life. No grudges, resentment or sadness. Just appreciation of what has happened, accepting what is happening and embracing what is to come.

I wish I fully understood that mental health is as equally important as my physical health is.

I wish I knew how important it was to push myself out of my comfort zone, to meet new people and to learn new perspectives that will allow me to grow both intellectually and emotionally.