18 Things I Learned at 18

/ June 11, 2015

Today is my 19th birthday. Every year I feel like I’ve been that age FOREVER and it’s weird to finally become another year older, since I constantly feel older than my birthdate indicates. But here I am. 19.

It’s been a hard year. Let’s just say it was a lot easier to come up with the major, deep life lessons than the fun, light-hearted ones in this post. But it was also a good year. I traveled, I made new friendships and strengthened old ones, I wrote and read a ton. I figured out what makes me happy and what doesn’t and how to do more of the former.

And I learned a lot. Here are 18 things I learned at 18: 

1. It’s okay to break your “everybody deserves a second chance” rule for red-flag people.

2. Thirty-six hours is the perfect duration for an adventure.

3. Saying sorry is not an instant fix.

4. A hamburger becomes heavenly when it’s inside two grilled cheese sandwiches.

5. People are willing to help if you tell them what you need, and they simply won’t if you don’t.

6. Gentrification is the absolute worst thing to see happen to your hometown.

7. When things aren’t going well, using humor can make nearly anything better.

8. Having nothing to go home to means you’ve made a new home elsewhere.

9. I’m much more forgiving than I thought I was.

10. Sometimes the scariest, riskiest, most complicated changes are the ones most necessary to make.

11. Reading harder is incredibly worthwhile.

12. Not being able to sleep in past 8:30 AM is an absolute nightmare.

13. Contrary to popular belief, a dorm room is no place for a baby.

14. HBO’s Girls makes me cry incessantly.

15. Being by myself is just as necessary for me as being with other people.

16. I can traverse the entire Detroit airport in 9 minutes when sprinting.

17. It only takes one wonderful person to make it obvious you’ve been settling with everyone else.

18. And you shouldn’t be settling with everyone else.

photo collage

Loved this post? Read 17 Things I Learned at 17.  

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45 thoughts on “18 Things I Learned at 18”

  18. Happy, happy birthday, Sabina. I wish you the best and brightest day. Enjoy your last year as a teenager…If nineteen is anything like eighteen, I’m sure you have another adventurous year ahead of you.

    Also, I’m so curious about #13. If you ask me, dorm room and baby shouldn’t even belong in the same sentence. :)

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