As an adolescent, I heard a lot about the things I'd regret during high school. Most of them were things people told me I'd regret not doing. I'd regret not going to the dance, to the football games, to the parties. As an introvert with [at that time] undiagnosed social anxiety, all of those things sounded miserable. So, staying home sounded not only preferable, but the only sure way to survive.

Looking back, I do have a few regrets. I regret missing opportunities: not kissing my first real love as we lay together on the football field one Summer afternoon. I regret trusting authority: I let go of this idea back in high school because my biology teacher told me it wouldn't work. I regret not believing in myself: I filled notebooks with poetry, but I am still unpublished.

Those are minor regrets, and I don't regret missing any of the social distractions people told me were so important. There are only two major regrets from the time I served in high school. Read more of this post