what i've learned since high school

a year ago today i graduated from high school and it feels absolutely crazy to say that. i've grown a lot since then, and i think that i've learned a lot as well.

so without further ado, and because i love lists, here are thirteen things that i've learned since high school

1. it's okay to cry
this feels a little obvious, but i've definitely been in situations where i've told myself not to cry. don't listen to that voice. if you want to cry, then cry. crying is cathartic, not only because it releases toxins from your body, but also in the sense that it's a release of pain as well.

my oldest friend and i at my graduation. aw.

2. friends will come and go
and that's okay. seriously, you're not expected to stay bffs with the people you knew in high school, or even the people you meet in college. losing friends is not the end of the world, because there's always another one just around the corner.

3. love yourself first
you are important. learn how to love yourself. love yourself before you love others. i'm not really sure how else to explain this one.

4. get rid of toxic people
this one kind of ties in with the above, but if someone is causing you pain in your life, cut them out. it's okay to tell someone that you need to take a break from them. your mental and emotional well-being should come before anyone else's

but first, let me take a selfie. please ignore my messy room. okay bye

5. study
no but seriously, study.

6. what you get out of life is what you put into it
if you're going to sit around and complain about life, you're not going to get any positive results. sit up and do something.

7. step out of your comfort zone
it's okay to push yourself a little. sometimes the best results come from this.

i wish i could say that i'm wearing a ankle brace because i was stepping out of my comfort zone, but i just fell down the stairs, to be honest.

8. stay true to yourself
you're not going to be happy if you do something that goes against your inner self. it just doesn't work like that. you will be happier if you stay true to who you are and who you want to be.

9. your parents love you
really, i promise, they do.

10. home is where you make it
home is where your heart is. if you decided that college is never going to be home, it's never going to be home. but home will also always be where you grew up, and it's okay to return there.

showing off those diplomas holla

11. be spontaneous
college is all about spontaneity and freedom. use it, abuse it, and make tons of good memories.

12. you'll find help in the most random and unexpected places
i've found that the people who have helped me the most didn't even know that they were helping me. there is always someone out there ready to help, you just have to know where to look.

13. you are more loved than you know
there are so many people out there who love you. more than you know and probably ever will know. just remember that you are loved, and you'll be fine.

see? loved.

what's something you guys have learned? or tell me about your graduations!

-em xx

dream on youth

i'm not sure if i'm going to be able to do this post justice, but i'm going to try. 

you may have heard me mention that i intern for a lovely little place called dream on youth, but i'm not sure that i've ever exactly explained what doy is, and how i came to find it. 

last fall, i saw my friend maire tweet about an organization called dream on youth quite a bit. assuming that maire had good judgement (she does), i decided to check out the doy twitter, and immediately fell in love with them and their cause. it's changed slightly since that day, but i'm still behind it 100%. if you're curious, i'll take a snippet from the website. 

"DOY is founded on the principle of practicing what we preach. We lead by example to instill love, hope, confidence, humility, optimism, and genuine charity in the millennial generation. We will always move you in the direction of your dreams but over the years we've learned that the world is missing something. Pure and genuine love for one another! Our new legacy is to inspire you and help you mend what's broken. Shower you with love and make you believe you're worth that life you daydream about. It can get better, and it does. We believe in you, you can do this. You are golden."

simply put, the girls behind doy are just trying to love on everyone and lift them up.

 i started to follow them on twitter, and (this has always been my favorite part) noticed that whoever ran the doy twitter would tweet me back! that was so exciting to me. i started to want to get more involved with them, but as i didn't really have a talent that would allow me to be a part of the doy family (or so i thought), i settled for reading their blogposts, and helping them reach 1,000 twitter followers.

the promise was that at 1,000 there would be a livechat and, i believe, tour dates would be announced. i might be getting the timeline mixed up here. anyways, suffice to say that they reached 1,000 twitter followers, i won the raffle that was being held, and watched the livechat. 

but after all that was over, things kind of went back to normal. i did end up starting a street team twitter, which i should use more than i do, but i think what i was waiting for was the opportunity to become an intern for them. 

which, as you can probably guess, did come around in february of this year (2014). and since then, i've been happily writing blog posts and running project safe space. to understate it, working for cydney and with the rest of the girls is a joy and a privilege. 

i've made so many friends and strengthened other friendships because of doy, and, without realizing it, doy helped me through some of my roughest moments. doy has truly changed me for the better. i feel more fearless, more selfless, and more willing to love and be brave. 

i know it's changed me for the better, and i can't wait to see where doy goes next.

let me know if you check doy out!

-em xx