No one asked to be born, and very few specifically asked to make it this far.

But we were the strongest sperm in the bunch, and now our bodies feel obligated to continue our legacies each morning when we wake up. So here we are.

We are all the smartest people in our universes.

Now, this is a pretty great responsibility for somebody who got chosen for the position by default.

In order to create an actually decent universe for ourselves to live in, we have to constantly be working on ourselves.

I like to think of it as a business.

Each day is a chance to experiment as my life CEO (me) and figure out more about my client (me.) What motivates me? What ruins a day? What recovers a bad day? It’s imperative to figure this out now since potentially I’ll be stuck with whatever answers I discover for the rest of my life.

High school has been great for me in this respect. It’s foolproof. If a hypothesis fails and I end up crying in my room at an ungodly hour, wanting to quit, I have people around me more than willing to pick up the slack until I’m ready to return to work. My dad will cook me a mean creole tofu and edamame dinner, which even he has learned to enjoy. My mom will have the Putlocker-stolen movie HDMI’d to the TV, ready to watch. My teachers will have their doors open for me after school, letting me consume all the wisdom and life advice my heart desires. My coaches will give me a workout. My friends will encourage me to skip the workout for a treat-yo-self day driving through nice neighborhoods and pointing out our dream homes. This time is sure-fire and failure friendly.

As a CEO, I’m not actually very good yet. I’m only 18.

But a few of my experiments have lead to important scientific discovery.

I learned doing things can seem hard sometimes. But my universe thrives when I feel productive.

I learned that despite being an a unnaturally organized person, cleaning my room has the ability to completely reset my chakras.

I learned communication is crazy cool, and being so transparent with everyone has saved me from a lot of potential drama.

I learned I love saving the planet, I love running, I love writing.

I learned I no longer want to be a senior. I never wanted to be one. These people around me who I see every day are woven within who I’ve become, and that will be all I’ll have left of them to bring with me to college.

Because, soon, we all will go off to wherever our personal CEOs have decided to send us. We all will take with us our own learned truths. We’ll take our uncertainties as well, now suddenly with less room for error.

And for my client’s sake, I hope my CEO finds success.