What I Wish I Knew At Age 18

Here's everything everyone wish they knew at the age of 18. If it's good advice, hit the upvote button. The number next to it indicates the age the author wrote it at. Feel like there's something missing? Add a new message!

Hey 18 year old, Contrary to societal expectations, mental health and happiness increases with age according to scientific studies. If you feel horrible these days, know things get better as you get older.

Hey 18 year old, If you're considering inviting someone who menstruates at home, especially someone you're in a relationship with, add a trash can in your bathroom for less awkwardness. Believe me.

Hey 18 year old, If you experience repetitive, unwanted and disturbing thoughts like "what if I want to hurt someone?" it's a symptom of OCD - not of being a bad person. (See types of OCD online)

Hey 18 year old, Look up https://pll.harvard.edu/catalog/free for free courses from Harvard online. That is, if you can take the challenge of being able to study it all on your own without a class.

Hey 18 year old, "What do you mean by that?" is a good defense if you have the feeling someone is indirectly criticizing your behavior in a conversation, or "I'm not sure what you meant," or "Help me understand."

Hey 18 year old, If you need more in depth research for college, look up Archive.org has millions of books that are for free, and are hard to find anywhere else. Really helps your grades along the way.

Hey 18 year old, If you feel like you've missed some lessons on how to be an adult from your younger years, look up the advice for 13-17 here even if it wasn't really meant for you, if you feel behind.

Hey 18 year old, Turbotaxsucksass.com is a real website that offers free tax filing, as a rebellion against corrupt websites that make you pay to file your own taxes. (By the comedy news show Patriot Act)

Hey 18 year old, Changing your stance on ideologies or major issues doesn't automatically make you a hypocrite - it means you've educated yourself further and changed your opinion based off this new information.

Hey 18 year old, Look up "different words for sugar," like dextrose, fructose, galactose, glucose, lactose, maltose, sucrose and more to see on nutritional labels. Companies trick you this way!

Hey 18 year old, There's a website called manualslib.com which lets you search for instruction books/manuals for any product. The website has over 2 million manuals for 40,000 brands all free to access and available to download.

Hey 18 year old, For free vehicle manuals, look up www.justgivemethedamnmanual.com, and no it's not just for guys. Gals can also know how to fix their own car, if they choose too.

Hey 18 year old, Darkpatterns.org lists and educates you about tricks and scummy tactics used by even the most commonly used websites that make you do things you didn't mean to.

Hey 18 year old, How will my future be

Hey 18 year old, If you want a deep and beautiful distraction for stress, look up images of space on NASA from https://images.nasa.gov/ It will make you think a lot, and it will help you regain wonder.

Hey 18 year old, What can i do

Hey 18 year old, 16

Hey 18 year old, Huge, high-ranking universities like MIT and Stanford have hundreds of recorded lecture series on YouTube for free, on all kinds of different degrees. If you want some help studying for something in college, these YouTube channels can help.

Hey 18 year old, If you look it up online, there are a lot of free textbooks to download in ebook format online, with ebooks donated from different colleges, universities and professors. If you want to save money on textbooks, consider this option.

Hey 18 year old, You can download the entirety of Wikipedia, and store it on a USB drive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Database_download

Hey 18 year old, There are multiple websites that give you recipes based off what ingredients you have on hand, such as my fridgefood, supercook, allrecipes, yummly, recipepuppy or epicurious on the app store.

Hey 18 year old, Khan Academy has a section on Personal Finance that teaches you things such as how to do your taxes, pay for college, and save for retirement. (https://www.khanacademy.org/college-careers-more/personal-finance)

Hey 18 year old, There is a giant library inside Minecraft which contains journals and articles, banned in several countries (https://www.blockworks.uk/the-uncensored-library), if you want to rebel against banned books these days.

Hey 18 year old, A non- broken hymen is not an indicator of virginity and that it is NOT normal for sex to hurt. There's a difference between discomfort and pain. Look up "myths about sex," and "myths about virginity," for more. Virginity cannot be formally tested!

Hey 18 year old, DON'T be on your best behavior on a first date. DO be your normal, everyday, relaxed hanging-with-friends behavior. You want the person to like you for who you actually are, not who you are pretending to be. They'll only fall in love with fake you.

Hey 18 year old, Take regular photos of the everyday happenings around your home & family. Someone on the sofa, cooking, doing yard work, a regular old dinner etc. Pictures of everyday life are the real nostalgia bombs when looking back.

Hey 18 year old, If you lack cash, potatoes are cheaper than ramen, have more nutritional value, and will keep you full longer. There are so many ways of cooking them and almost all are delicious. For more, look up "cheap ingredients to use in cooking," online.

Hey 18 year old, Finish your degree even if you ultimately wont go into your studied field. Future employers may simply pay you more for having a degree, with it offering more credibility with your added education experience, even if it's not related.

Hey 18 year old, Take photos of your parents doing things they do every day. When you get older, they will bring back memories more than any posed pic ever could. They won't always be here, so enjoy the best memories you have with them. (If they're not abusive.)

Hey 18 year old, Millennials/Zoomers, when you’re explaining how broke you are to your parents/grandparents, use an inflation calculator. Ask them what year they started working, and then tell them what you make in dollars from back then.