I just wanted to stop by and give you an insight on what the future holds. Enjoy the teen years while they last. After graduating high school is when it all really beings. Choose your friends wisely and don’t over think everything so much! Alway keep your with in God.
Hey Andrew,
I just wanted to let you know that the future is pretty fun, but also stressful. Â Let me give you a little bit of advice. Â When you are studying for tests, try to starts studying before the night before the test. Â Also, mom and dad are freaking out about gas prices. Â That will go away, gas is under a $1.50 right now. Â Also, we are currently in a time where Donald Trump might be the next President. Â Yeah, the guy who does the Celebrity Apprentice show. Â Anyway, just go with the flow and everything will be cool.
Love,
Andrew
For the first assignment, I chose “A Letter to Yourself as a Child”.
Dear younger self,
You are 12 years old and you are about to start your first year of middle school, congrats! I know you’re scared and anxious to begin a new life at a new school, but things will be fine. Although you’re scared to make some new friends since most of your friends from elementary school went to a different middle school, you will eventually make friends through some trial and error.
A few words of advice I have are, don’t be too stressed and just be yourself! You end up making a lot of friends this way, so theres no need to try and be something you’re not. Don’t judge a book by its cover, and appreciate the easy work middle school has to offer! I know at age 12, the workload of a middle schooler can seem rough, but when you enter high school and then college you will learn to appreciate how easy you had it back in middle school.
Keep your head up, everything will be alright 
Future Sara
Hello 16 year old self!
So we are 22 now and about to graduate from the University of Mary Washington! I have some things I want to tell you about high school: don’t stress out so much! You spent a lot of time studying and stressing about classes and getting into a good school. Guess what? You did it! However, you also missed out on a lot of stuff, so I propose you relax. Go out and enjoy yourself a little more! I also want you to know that boys are not that important (and you found a pretty great one in college anyway). It’s also important that you spend time with the family, even though they drive you crazy.
So enjoy the rest of high school while you can and make sure you enjoy college too (you meet some pretty great people)!
Love,
Me
(assignment here)
Dear Little Lindsey,
At your age, you’ve already been through a lot – parents divorcing, mom going to college, moving across the country three times – and yet, much to my relief, you’ve always kept your head high. Honestly I’m really proud of you for that. People always tell you you’re smart and you try to keep humble about it, and while your choice of friends is infinitely questionable, you keep yourself together nonetheless. You’ve also kept out of the infinitely stressful circle of dating, and for that I owe you practically everything. You and I both know things would have been a hundred times worse if you tried to keep up with any “real” relationship. Stick to your friends and homework and all that.
I’m gonna go ahead and say the exact thing you hear from every other adult: growing up is hard. I know that means absolutely nothing to you right now – after all, you’re just a kid and you don’t really want to worry about all that “growing up” business right now. Besides, you’ve got everything figured out; you’re “mature for your age” and planning on becoming an astronomer or geologist or librarian or something like that. Still, I hate to break it to you, but what you’ll probably end up doing is going to be really, really different from any of those. You’re gonna go to college and you’ll even take some astronomy classes, but science is not for you, kid. A librarian is a little closer to what you’ll be working towards, but honestly it’s not going to be what you think that entails. If I have any career advice for you, it’s to make sure you keep some connections and for God’s sake think about internships.
Right now you’re probably not worried so much about your relationships – and you really shouldn’t be anyway – but consider that not everything is perfect, no matter who your friends are. You might find that some of your closest friends are toxic, maybe not for years from now, but just accept that no one on this planet is worth giving up everything for. Even in your nearer future, the people you think you’ll never lose will eventually find others, or just change in general. Don’t be afraid if you’re lonely. You’ll find some wonderful people down the road. And again, at least you haven’t dated anyone. Just wait until college. Really, trust me on that one.
You’re going to have a lot of weird experiences when you’re older, especially once you’ve turned 18. Some of them are going to be wonderful, others not so much. My heart both flutters and hurts to remember what you will go through in that year alone. Always remember that things change over time. Ideas reshape themselves, pain fades away.
Oh, and don’t get me started on this upcoming presidential election. You won’t believe what happens after President Obama’s second term. Don’t forget to register to vote, alright? It’s important. Like, really important.
Anyway, I hope your homework isn’t bogging you down too much (I’m afraid it gets a lot worse). Here’s to the two of us, going forward in a blaze of whatever happens. Keep at it, little me.
Sincerely,
Your Future Self
__________
This short letter was inspired by the assignment prompt that asks you to write a letter to your younger self. For me, this was a little difficult, since I was a pretty straight-and-narrow kid. I never took too kindly to having adults try to tell me what I need to do in my life. Of course, the fun of this assignment is that it is purely hypothetical and everything I’ve said is something I already know. Little me won’t be able to roll her eyes upon reading this note.
Despite knowing myself pretty well, I had a bit of a hard time coming up with meaningful content to say. While imagining myself at around 13 or 14, I tried to find ways to express ideas in a manner that would get through to me. It took me some time to figure out what was most important to tell myself as well. Would I have cared about whether I got a job in college? Would I want to hear details about my future friends and relationships? How much should I tell me without “ruining it” for myself? Regardless of my thoughts and word choice, I think I would have still been wound up by my own vagueness. But I would understand later on. That’s what growing up is about, right?
After getting my topics sorted out, I had a lot of fun writing this letter. It was strangely calming, a pleasant exchange with a time in my life where I might have been uncomfortable with the very idea of knowing what happens after high school. Each phase of our lives comes with a new set of challenges which often make the trials we have previously faced feel trivial and minor, no matter their importance to us at the time. Revisiting our past struggles with the mentality of having never experienced anything worse helps us see our present as a matter of overcoming the current obstacles that we will later consider just as small and laughable. We grow each day we live, but we should never forget how we have lived each day.
Wow. I have so much to say that I couldn’t even choose a specific age. Where do I even start? I think I’ll start in 8th grade when you just turned 14. Cannot believe this, because Vivian just turned 14 and she might be going through the same things as you. I can’t believe how fast my little sister has grown, but let’s focus on you, or me. You’re in 8th grade and you’re trying so hard to fit in a school with primarily white children. You’re the only Hispanic kid and you feel less than your classmates. You’re intimidated and made to feel less smart, less worthy of education. But that isn’t the only thing bothering you. You see how everyone has natural (well what you assume at the time) straight hair. It falls so perfectly on the shoulders of your classmates and you sit in awe while tugging at your frizzy curly hair, wishing you had been blessed with perfect hair. Then they walk in. The girls who you spent the first half of the school year trying to befriend, just to realize you aren’t one of them, and you never will be.
At lunch, you sit with your one friend. You talk about the future and what universities you hope to attend, but then laugh because you’re only in 8th grade and still have years ahead of you. But then you glimpse at the laughter coming from the other side of the lunch room, and you edge a little until you see them laughing and pointing at you. You look down at your plate and wonder, what makes me so different?
You go home and sit on your bed, pushing your homework away. All you can think about is the chub that hangs from your stomach. As you walk into the bathroom, you think of how the world would be better without you. You don’t realize, but this is a thought that will haunt you for the next few years. When you finally look in the mirror, you look at your uni brow, then at the hair on your arms. You slide out your phone, and search: Why am I so hairy if I am a girl? There is million of websites claiming it’s normal and natural, but to you that means nothing.
Later that day, you start to forget about the thoughts while you play with ChiChi, but it is suddenly interrupted with the sound of Justin Bieber playing from your phone. The caller ID states it’s your best friend, and you dash upstairs and shut the bathroom door close. As you sit, behind the door, you answer and with a release of a breath say, “Hello?” You don’t realize as hours pass and your sisters come knocking at the door. She is the only person there who understands what happens at school, and you promise to look for her the next morning as soon as you arrive.
The next morning, you walk into the classroom looking for her, but she is nowhere in sight. You turn and see them looking at you. You walk past them and take a seat in your assigned seat, but that is when the battle against tears begins.
Fat hairy cow.Â
Why do you even go here?
You’re not smart.
No one will ever like you.
Their words pierce your heart as you pretend not to hear in hopes of preventing tears from running down your face.
The end of the day comes, and the cycle repeats.
If I could go back in time and expose my parents to everything that happened behind the closed doors of a private Catholic school, I would do it in a heartbeat. Past Tiffany, I want to tell you a few things which I am still learning today, but they have made my present better and future hopeful.
I want to start off with being a different race. You’re parents are both Peruvian. Your dad, especially, is hairy, and unlike your sisters, you seemed to have inherited most of his genetics. You’re “hairiness” isn’t a flaw, but a privilege. I watch as girls around me do all sort of treatments– even as extreme as getting fake eyelashes sowed onto their real ones– just to have long lashes. You were blessed to have long and curled eyelashes, as well as bold eyebrows. Heck, you get to sleep in longer, unlike other girls who spend time filling in their brows, because YOU already have the gift of flawless brows.
Moving along, your hair isn’t a downside either. You will eventually learn to care for curly hair and you will learn to love it, and never bring a straightening iron to it ever again. People will touch and express their love for your curls. It will become something you learn to cherish. It might take a while, because you are the only girl in your home with curly hair, but you will eventually learn to love it.
The second to biggest point I want to make is that you should never doubt yourself. You will do great in high school and eventually attend University of Mary Washington. You will be accepted to all the schools you apply to, and will find others looking within you for help. Please do not ever, no matter what, doubt yourself, because you can do it.
And, the biggest point I want to conclude with is, mental illness is a real thing. It won’t go away. It will always be something in the back of your mind, but you will find help. You will find others who feel and understand you. You will want to learn more about mental illness and will educate yourself in the topic. But please, please please, remember that whenever you are feeling especially down, you always have two people in your life who will never let you down, your best friend and abuelita.
P.S. You will also learn that Justin Bieber isn’t as good as he seemed.
Dear 13 year old Sophia,
No, not everyone is out to get you. I understand that mom and dad may seem like the worst people in the world, but they really aren’t. Stop picking on your little sisters. They’re going to be your best friends soon enough. Hug each one of them, especially Isabelle, she needs it. Don’t forget mom and dad!
I know you’re not the most optimistic child, but it does get better. You end up at a great school with some lifelong friends. You’re even taking this class (ds106) with one of them right now!
It’s going to be hard, but you’re tough. Just remember how important your family is, they’ll be there for you.
-21 year old Sophia
Stop what you are doing, look around you and take it all in. You’re 17, starting your senior year of high school and have the whole world ahead of you. Stop worrying about what college you are going to attend, what school you will be playing field hockey at and what you want to do with your future. Enjoy the time with your best friends, family and your time at home. Even though the only thoughts going through your head right now are how fun college is going to be and how you cannot wait to go, I promise you are going to miss that life. You are going to dream of having a home cooked meal, and miss when your parents would make you breakfast before you went of to school. You are going to miss your big bed that provides such much comfort. You will miss your dog. And yes, you will miss your siblings. There is nothing in this world that can replace home, so stop wishing it away. As for field hockey, take it all in. The next four years will fly by and in a blink of an eye you will no longer have the game to carry you on. It is not your life, but it will forever be a huge part of who you are so enjoy every last moment you can on the field. College will be some of the best days of your life, but so is right now. Don’t wish your senior year away because life goes by faster than you think. Stop worrying about the future and just live in the now.
Oh, and go thank mom and dad because without them we would be nothing.
Dont Blink.
*** I found this assignment to be pretty simple, and useful. I chose to do this because it was a good way to self reflect on my life and remind myself to stop stressing about the small things. I would recommend this assignment to anyone who wants that reminder.
Write a letter to yourself at a certain age. Is there anything specific you would tell yourself? Is there anything you know now that you wish you knew then? Let yourself know! You could include telling yourself what you’re like in the future. THe possibilities are endless!
