Dear High School Senior Year Me,

It has been a year since you left high school. Guess what, you made it, trust me. I know these next few months were a bit of a rollercoaster. You had applied to over ten colleges and you are anxiously waiting to hear back from them.

So a few weeks pass and all you get are rejections from the ones you considered your dream schools. I know 10,000 Degrees pushed you to not have a dream school, but you couldn't help it. Your little sense of hope kept wishing there would be a chance for you. Each rejection made you go to the end of your couch and just cry it all out. You got to the point where your parents did not know how to help anymore. Let them in, don't block them. It sucks to cry, but it sucks even more when you are alone. You are not those rejections, just because one university said no does not mean that there would never be a yes. Do not belittle your accomplishments, you made it a lot further than you would have thought.

In between all of this you did have your best friends to cling onto, they were going through the same things as you. You were all in different positions, but in the same general place. Sometimes, y'all would even have emergency meet ups because you all just needed to talk about it. One by one you all let it out and just sat there, looking at each other because you start to realize that this would be one of the last times you were all gathered together.

One of your restless night, you clicked on your emails and there it was: "Congratulations, you are accepted to UC Merced." You were happy, but you didn't think more of it. Then on April 11th, you visited UC Merced with your family. You walked aimlessly throughout the campus and convinced yourself that this was the school. Although you weren't 100 percent sure, your parents were. So on April 28th, you sat down with your sister and your parents to agree on this life-changing decision and SIRed. As your sister exclaimed, "Mom, Dad! She is going to UC Merced." You stood there in shock and turned to look at your parents crying because they were so proud of you and you knew at that moment UC Merced was going to provide all these new opportunities for you. It was all going to sink much later.

I can't deny that things were hard for you, they were. Also, just because you finally got to college, it does not mean you have all your life figured out. It's just the beginning of many decisions. Things have a way of working themselves out in the end and you will get to where you need to be. Also, spoiler alert, you are finally made it to UC Merced and you have met and kept in touch with some of the most magnificent people you could have hoped for. Past-self, I need you to know that you are still growing and we go most of our lives thinking the "should've" "could've" and the "what ifs," but there is no point in that. You are where you are, because you are meant to be there. But you also have the ability to change any of that. Although I am not you anymore, I still want the best for you. Which is how I have realized that the only happiness and assurance I will ever need is from you. Remember, mistakes can just be brushed off and you will get back on your feet and carry yourself out. I am proud of you.

Sincerely,

Your friend