10 Things Every 18-Year-Old Should Know

Turning 18 is weird — before you were a carefree teenager, and then all of a sudden you're an adult, and people actually expect you to know how to do all these things by yourself. What's up with that? I'm pretty sure 98 percent of being an adult is just Googling how to do stuff, anyway. Thankfully, we live in the age of the Internet now, where advice is only a Reddit post away: Someone on Reddit recently asked what should every 18-year-old know, and the wise adults of the content-sharing community delivered with some helpful advice.

If I had to give advice to my 18-year-old self, it would be this: Even though everything seems catastrophic, it's really not. Whether it was getting a bad grade, breaking up with my high school boyfriend, or not making the Varsity softball team, everything that went wrong seemed like it was a huge deal that I'd never get over. That's because at that age, your world begins and ends at 18 and you basically have no perspective to see into the future. I know it might be super annoying to hear adults constantly telling you that "time heals all wounds" and that "everything will work out eventually," but more often than not, they know what they're talking about.

I'm surprised nobody posted anything to the effect of my words of wisdom — I guess I must be really wise — but regardless, here are the better pieces of advice from the thread.

Rejection might seem like the worst thing in the world, but it's really not. Getting rejected is like anything else in life: it gets easier the more you do it.

Semi-contradictory advice, but valid nonetheless.

That makes me feel pretty depressed TBH. I feel like I need to go listen to "Good Riddance" now.

Yep! This, 100 percent. You (hopefully) won't be the same person you were as a teenager, when you finally meet the person you settle down with. This is a good thing!

Credit cards are kind of scary — the thought of all that interest in debt can keep you up at night — but it's still really important to build good credit and be responsible.

Not just knowing to use condoms, but knowing how to put them on properly. And how to avoid getting STIs. Actually, sex ed in general is something everybody should learn by the time they're 18.

And to add to this, life isn't going to a college with a prestigious name. Literally nobody cares if you didn't go to Harvard. You will still have a future.

These are all solid things every adult should know how to do, with the exception being I have no idea what I'd do if I got the flu beyond googling my symptoms and making a doctor's appointment.

I like this a lot.

Honestly, I still tell myself this when I'm feeling down. I might go print this out and put it on an inspiration board.

Image: lorenkerns/Flickr