17 Things Every Girl Should Know

Before She's 21
You're the hero of this story.

GETTYDANA TEPPER
BY LIZ REINHARDT
JUL 14, 2017
367

YA writer Liz Reinhardt, author of Seventeen's upcoming Rebels Like Us from Harlequin TEEN, wasn't
always a successful novelist swimming in book deals. Here are a few things she learned along the way.

1. WORK A SERVICE INDUSTRY JOB.

You'll grit your teeth when customers make ridiculous demands, show up ten minutes before closing, or
ruin a display you carefully put together, but work builds character and working a service job means you'll
never be the kind of awful customer who makes employees cringe.

2. GO ON DATES WITH DIFFERENT PEOPLE.

In order to know what you want from someone else, you need a basis for comparison, which means dating
different people! Keep this in mind: you want to wind up with someone who makes you feel like the best
version of yourself.

3. TRAVEL AS OFTEN AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN.

Someday you'll have obligations that will make it hard to pack a suitcase and disappear somewhere
foreign and exciting. Enjoy wanderlust while you have ample time and the ability to!

Author Liz Reinhardt traveling to London as a teen.

LIZ REINHARDT

4. KEEP A JOURNAL.
I cannot tell you how many times I trip over an old photo or note that reminds me of something from my
past I'd completely forgotten about — and I wish I could read my own account of how things were.
Perspective is so important, and there's no better way to see how much you've grown and changed than
reading your own (possibly melodramatic) journals.

5. SPEND TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY, ESPECIALLY IF

YOU HAVE YOUNGER SIBLINGS.
One day soon you'll be off experiencing college, first jobs, roommates, solo trips, and various adventures
away from home. You'll miss your family, but you'll be immersed in new things, while they may be focused
on the you-shaped hole in their world. Hold them close and let them know you love them before you set
off on your own path.

6. THINK ABOUT WHAT KIND OF COLLEGE YOU'D

LIKE TO ATTEND — AND BE OPEN TO THE KIND OF
COLLEGE YOU CAN HAPPILY AFFORD.
There are so many amazing ways to go about getting a college education. Remember that many people
pursue advanced degrees for years, at all stages of their careers and lives. There is no such thing as one
perfect college experience, and sometimes practicality may trump an idealized vision of what's best. Be
open to fantastic community colleges, colleges with big scholarship opportunities, and work opportunities
that will compensate your credit hours. An education is amazing — so is a lack of debt when you get that
diploma.

"There is no such thing as one perfect college experience."

7. BE CONFIDENT ABOUT WHAT INTERESTS YOU.

Whatever makes you happy — Oxford commas, Broadway musicals, modern dance, lacrosse — pursue it.
Love it, enjoy it, find other people to share the love with, and don't waste time on people who try to
convince you what you love isn't cool. They're wrong. The Oxford comma is cool. Trust me, I know.

8. ENJOY YOUR BODY.

Wear what you like, exercise because it feels good, dance, swim, do all those things and swagger when you
do them. You're gorgeous right now, exactly the way you are, and your body is better than good enough —
it's amazing, it's all yours, and you'll be in it forever. Take good care of it.

"Your body is better than good enough — it's amazing, it's all yours, and you'll be in it forever."

9. TAKE TIME TO DAYDREAM AND BASK IN

SOLITUDE.
You're about to face new challenges and stresses. For a few years, things might only get more chaotic and
complicated. Take time now to give your mind a rest, and try your best to make that mental restfulness a
daily habit.

10. FRIENDS COME AND GO, BUT THE LASTING

EFFECTS OF GOOD AND BAD FRIENDSHIPS WILL
SHAPE YOU DEEPLY.
Sometimes it's hard to acknowledge that it's time to let a friendship go, but there's peace in knowing that
every friendship teaches you something important. When you do find a friend who grows with you and is
there for you through thick and thin, hold on tight! Be in the moment with your friends and cherish the
time you have together.

11. IF YOU THINK YOU MIGHT LIKE TO BE OR DO

SOMETHING WHEN YOU'RE OLDER, FIND OUT ALL
YOU CAN ABOUT IT.
Interview people in the field you want to work in. Interview people who've left the field you want to work
in. Volunteer, take unpaid internships and entry level jobs, and do research in your intended field. You'll
either find out it wasn't what you wanted after all, or you'll make valuable inroads and gain insider
information that will make your future career incredible.
12. READ EVERYTHING YOU CAN GET YOUR HANDS
ON.
Reading keeps your mind open, lets you live other lives, and shows you other peoples' perspectives. Read
it all — fiction, non-fiction, light, fun novels and deep exposes, poetry and interviews. Make reading for
information and pleasure a daily habit.

13. PURSUE THE HOBBIES THAT EXCITE YOU,

REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT THEY PAD
YOUR TRANSCRIPTS.
I know people who curse the hours they spent on fields and in clubs doing things they hated because they
wanted their college applications to look impressive. I know people who took college courses they knew
they could ace instead of courses they were interested in to keep up the perfect GPA. You have a limited
amount of time to do all the things you might be passionate about. Make sure you are using that time
wisely.

14. TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOUR BODY, MIND, AND

SOUL.
Sleeping well, eating right, exercising, meditating, spending time with loved ones — do all the things that
will keep you happy and healthy so you can tackle the big challenges that are going to come your way.

15. EXTEND KINDNESS.

It's so easy to extend small, kind gestures every day. Choose to be consciously kind to the people around
you.

16. TAKE PICTURES.

Maybe this isn't as relevant anymore, but I mourn all the trips and vacations I took as a teenager and
never bothered to photographically document. In my defense, I was young before the age of the camera
phone! ;) Maybe better advice today would be "take some pictures, but don't forget to put the camera
away and enjoy the moment."

17. LOVE YOURSELF.

At the end of the day, you have yourself — your gorgeous, funny, smart, exciting self. Love yourself with
every fiber of your body, and that love will radiate out and attract happiness into your life.

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