I know parents and adults are full of crazy sayings such as, “You’re too young to understand,” and, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”

But I’ve found one thing in particular that I’ve been told over and over again by countless adults (other than, “You’re going to need a jacket”) has turned out to be true — “Following the ‘cool crowd’ isn’t worth it.”

I hate to give credit to all of the adults who have ever told me that, but every single one of them was absolutely right.

Nowadays, being “popular” or “cool” means nothing but trying to please a bunch of people who don’t actually care about you and regularly using phrases such as, “Turn up or transfer.”

In other words, popularity is extremely overrated.

Why stick around people who base your worth on how “hammered” you got over the weekend?

Of course no one is perfect, but I personally want to be around people who will fill me up, talk to me about things that actually matter and keep the drama to a minimum — and I’ve found just that.

In fact, discovering who my real friends are has brought nothing but good things. We go to concerts, we still have fun and I’ll be the first to admit that we break a fair amount of rules — but most importantly we care about each other.

We put one another first. There’s never a “better option” because to each other, we’re the most important thing.

No one should be embarrassed to be passionate about the things they are passionate about.

No one should have to apologize for how they feel.

No one should be ashamed of who they are.

As astonishing as this may sound, your friends are supposed to make you feel good about yourself.

High school is rough as it is.

Surround yourself with people who care.