Dear Future High School Freshman,
Lesson #1: "No one really cares." If you remember these words through the beginning and end of high school, you have conquered success through individualism. To all the high school freshmen entering this fall, please know that if you get all the A's, join the National Honors Society, and become a member of all the varsity sports, but did not become an individual... you failed.
Nothing matters more than the proper development of your mind. If you are complacent your entire high school career, sitting back, eating lunch with the friends you've known since you were three, and never once allow yourself to feel like an absolute failure, then you have failed. You have failed to challenge your mind, and therefore you have failed to grow. I never want to see you limit yourself. I never want to see you hold back in fear of what an outcome may be.
You're not sure if you wanna tryout for volleyball? You think you could never make it because you're not good enough? You're afraid of the embarrassment that may come and the giggles shared because of your unestablished skill? DO IT ANYWAY.
The truth is that life doesn't care if you're good at volleyball. Life doesn't care about your certificates, medals, and converse shoes. There is a point in everyone's human existence, where life throws pain, suffering, tears, fears, and deaths, all wrapped in life-sickening agony that makes you question your purpose for existing.
You won't be ready if you take your current opportunities to grow and throw them away. Remember that "no one really cares" because, at the end of the day, your decision to hang out with friends, and perpetual fear of standing alone means that you already have an issue worth fearing: yourself. When I say that "no one really cares," I mean that the friends you have are focused on their own insecurities.
You don't need a friend to walk with you to the bathroom, and you don't need to be afraid to skip lunch with them in order to ask a teacher a deep philosophical question. Challenge yourself. Take risks. Make yourself feel uncomfortable often. And keep a humble perspective about how much of an issue your issues really are on a global perspective.
Lesson #2: Pretend that you're writing a book. When you walk into school on the first day, before you head over to gossip about the latest trends and drama, think about the values you represent and the person that you want to reflect back on post-high school.
Be an optimist. The toughest material, the longest packets of homework… embrace them all. Every person eating lunch alone, every person mocked and ridiculed, and every situation you observe that tugs at your conscious altering our mind that "something is wrong," go fix it. The biggest lesson I learned growing up was that silence and inaction does not keep you "safe."
The person that does nothing when witnessing a little boy being bullied is just as guilty as the one who bullies. Be friends with the person that is friendless, smile at the person everyone deems as "unfixable" and always share the mindset that inspires gratitude and curiosity with the environment surrounding you.
