Dear 14-Year-Old Me,
You are about to embark on a long and challenging journey called high school. I have longed to talk to you and tell you that there will be many bumps in the road. But surprisingly, everything will work out.
In elementary and middle school, every time there was a college T-shirt day, you would wear a Duke shirt. Now that you are about to enter high school, you know that the day where you have to fill out college applications is looming ever closer and you are terrified you won’t get into your dream school -- Duke University. You will work hard, harder than you ever thought you could work. But I’ll let you in on a little secret, younger me: The hard work will pay off. You will get into Duke on your mom’s birthday. She will cry. You will cry. And for the first time you can remember, your dad will cry. It will be the best feeling you will ever experience in your young life so far.
But before that magical day, you will have to go through high school. Sometimes you will question why you subjected yourself to so much work. Work hard and learn a lot. You love to learn; never let that magic feeling die just because of the piles of homework. The first quarter of calculus will be brutal. You will go home and cry a lot, not knowing why you don’t understand how to do anything that your teacher puts on the board. One day, little me, it will all of a sudden click. You will know it inside and out and will look forward to that class every day. The calculus teacher you were afraid of on the first day -- she will be your inspiration to truly learn math, she will be your favorite teacher, and above all, you will consider her a friend. She will be the teacher that makes you cry on the last day of school.
Physics will be one of your favorite classes. It will just make sense to you. Ignore the snide comments from people who say that because you are blonde you can’t be smart or good at physics -- you will prove them wrong. Physics and calculus combined will help you discover neuroscience, which will be your major once you enter college.
Your friends? They change. A lot of the friends you have right now, younger me, will grow into amazing and inspiring people. You will keep several of your old friends. Some you won’t see as often as you would like because they go to different high schools or move on to different hobbies other than dance, but you will still have them forever and always. You will also meet new people that will become your closest and dearest friends. It will feel like you knew these people your entire life. Throughout high school, you will get periods of depression. Even though you feel like you are alone, remember that these people love you unconditionally and you love them back.
Dance will still be a part of your life. I know that as a 14-year-old, you are sick of dance and will want to quit. Keep dancing, little one, because you will fall in love with it once again. You may not think you are good enough now, but you will grow to become an amazing dancer. You make your high school dance team and will become captain your senior year. You learn to do moves and tricks you never thought you would be able to do. You will be in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, in which you will see snow for the first time. As you hug your dance teachers the day before you leave for college, you will cry but know that it is only the beginning of your dance career.
Cosplay? It will still be one of your favorite things to do. As you progress through high school you will have less and less time for it. But know that you still love it and you feel your best when you get to dress up as a Disney Princess or a magical girl. You may be extremely upset that you don’t spend very much time on it and instead, work on essays and study for the SAT. Realize that the sacrifice you make will pay off. As I am telling you this, 14-year old me, I will be going to a convention in two days. Cosplay will never leave you even though at times it will seem like you will never be able to do it again.
You will fall in love with a character named Harley Quinn. It may not surprise you that she is a villain since your favorite characters have always been antagonists like Jessie from Team Rocket from "Pokémon" or Shego from "Kim Possible." It will take you five years to feel like you are worthy enough to cosplay Harley. You will watch and read anything and everything that she is in. I will admit it -- you become obsessed. That’s OK. In your darkest hours the joy she brings you will give you light.
Younger me, I know that you secretly love art. You draw all the time, but you aren’t as good as your artist friends so you hide everything that you do. One day, 14-year-old me, you will realize that your art style is not their art style. You will become a realism artist and will win art shows and have your art hanging in art festivals. You will be an incredible artist like some of your friends but in your own way. This will teach you an important lesson: You are you, not other people. Don’t force yourself to be someone you’re not.
You are still trying to figure out what you want to do with all of your dreams. Never stop dreaming. You still don’t know what you want to do; you are a science enthusiast majoring in neuroscience who wants to go to law school who wants to be a Rockette who wants to be a filmmaker who wants to cosplay and act. You don’t know what the future holds and neither do I. But we will figure out our future together. And by following our dreams, I’m sure that our future will be an incredible one.
