When you’re 15…

Chances are, you have a crush on a fictional character or three right now. Enjoy it. At your age, you can still be head over heels in love with boys who don’t exist (Draco Malfoy then, Robb Stark now) without getting side-eyed like you’re a crazy person when you tell other people about it. (Except by your parents, but all teenage antics baffle parents.) You will have to learn to keep that truly impossible love on the down low once you hit a certain age. (You will channel your unhealthy love for Loki into a surprising number of green clothes in your closet.)

Your high school probably doesn’t allow you to wear makeup, accessories, certain kinds of clothes, and high heels. Stop calling it a fascist institution; it’s not as bad as you think. You will have all the time in the world in college (unless your college requires a uniform or a specific dress code) and when you’re working (if you work somewhere reasonably relaxed) to unleash your inner fashionista on the world. After a couple of years of sartorial freedom, you will tire of having to put infinite permutations of the same contents of your closet together. You will also tire of having to stand in five-inch heels for hours on end with no chair in sight. You will grow to hate being asked if you’re feeling well on days that you are too lazy to put on makeup. That ugly uniform was the great equalizer, and it will be a bittersweet memory on days that you just don’t have the patience to dress up but are required to be in the presence of well-dressed people. (Damn those well-dressed people!)

You might not have a boyfriend right now. Or have that many guy friends. Be patient. From what I remember of teenage guys when I was you, half of them were idiots who did nothing but talk about sports and play video games. (The other half was pretty cool, but also did nothing but talk about sports and play video games.) Wait for them to grow up a bit (they’ll take some time to catch up; girls develop faster). They become way more awesome when they get over the novelty of alcohol and mature. (There are a few exceptions who are truly cool, though. Make friends!)

Try, try to come up with a semi-concrete plan for your future that goes beyond being famous and/or rich. Not everyone is going to grow up to be a big name fashion blogger, and getting on Pinoy Big Brother: Teen Edition then segueing that quasi-fame into a weekly song-and-dance stint on ASAP and a role as a minor kontrabida in some afternoon teleserye is highly unlikely. Have a general idea of what you’re good at, how you can continue to develop it, and what you can do with it. College is not as distant as you think it is, and neither is your first job, so start taking your future seriously. Try to strike a balance between passion and practicality — you learn when you first start earning your own money that it gets spent faster than you can say “payday.”

Don’t be in such a hurry to grow up. It’s such a cliché, but you really do only get to be young once, so enjoy it. (Bonus: Most mistakes you make at this point in your life will be chalked up to your age and lack of experience, not just flat out stupidity.) Be silly. Have fun. Don’t take yourself too seriously; high school drama is definitely not the end of the world.

Learn to live in a non-fictional universe. If you grew up reading a lot, chances are, you’ll have high expectations of the real world. Sometimes you’ll feel more like a supporting character than a hero in a life where you’re supposed be the star. Stop. Your Hogwarts letter is never going to come, and you must accept that. Life may not be as extravagant as it is in fiction, yes, but that doesn’t make it any less magical or any less of an adventure. Get back down to earth. And for the love of God, don’t compare what’s going on with you with other people’s lives as depicted through their social media accounts, because those should be treated as fiction, or as hyper-augmented reality at best.