What I Wish I Knew At Age 20

Here's everything everyone wish they knew at the age of 20. The number next to it indicates the age the author wrote it at.

Hey 20 year old, Other than love languages in relationships, look up and research on apology languages too. It will help you work with conflicts in all kinds of relationships, not just romance.

Hey 20 year old, Look up 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 20 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 20 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 20 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 20 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 20 year old, There is a website called haveibeenpwned.com that tells you if your email address has been involved in data breaches, which means your private information was exposed by hackers.

Hey 20 year old, Romantic relationships aren't like the Sims. Doing nice things doesn't fill up a stat bar that, when full, means the person is in love with you. People are not obligated to fall in love with you if you're nice.

Hey 20 year old, if you decide to visit family/friends that are going through a rough time, consider bringing your own food and arrange your transportation, even small inconveniences can add stress in difficult times

Hey 20 year old, If you like art and you want a distraction for stress, look up Google Arts & Culture for free museums, that some you can even see in 3D. Look up the Smithsonian Institute too.

Hey 20 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 20 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 20 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 20 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 20 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 20 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 20 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 20 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 20 year old, There is an app called Be My Eyes that allows visually impaired people to video call volunteers to ask for visual assistance, if you want a chance to help someone in your life.

Hey 20 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 20 year old, Do not try to be the man your father would want you to be. Be the man you would like your son to be be. It more clearly defines your own convictions, desires, goals, and motivates you to be your best.

Hey 20 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 20 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 20 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 20 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 20 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.

Hey 20 year old, If you're a woman, and a stranger who sends you a pic of his dick has a nice mom, consider sending a screenshot of him sending a picture of his dick to his mother. A sane mother would lecture her child. Less sane ones would defend him.

Hey 20 year old, If you or anyone you know has experienced sexual abuse, and the police does not believe you, then contact a nonprofit for abuse victims instead. Try to email or call one online, or maybe visit a local one near you found through Google Maps.

Hey 20 year old, If you ever need a program you want for free (for example a video/photo editor) don’t search for “free,” search for “open source” to avoid limited trial versions, adverts and malware.

Hey 20 year old, Learn to do -- and enjoy -- things by yourself. You're going to miss out on a lot of fun if you keep waiting for someone else to accompany you.