Dear Casey Neistat,
My name is David Kirchner. I am 23 years old and I live in Towson, Maryland.
I am writing you this letter/article to you to thank you.
About a year ago I was in a pretty low spot in life. I was still living at home, living in my hometown, going to into my 4th year of community college and felt I was going nowhere. I remember going to class and going to work just feeling sad and had no direction. What I really wanted to do was go back to pursuing photography and cinematography but to me at the time it felt like it was such a stretch and I shouldn't put in the work.
One morning, I decided to F it, skip class and stay in bed. I decided to look through YouTube and then I stumbled upon one of your vlogs. I watched one, then another, then another, then another. I couldn't understand why I found you and your life so fascinating. Then I found your "Draw My Life" and you went from fascinating to inspiring.
How you went from being a high school drop out and a dad at 16, to business owner and YouTuber. At the time, I did not know you were the inspiration I needed at that point in time.
You inspired me to finally pursue what I really wanted to do and that was film-making and photography because its what I love to do and you said "find what you love and do it for the rest of your life". You inspired me to push through community college and get into Towson University. You inspired me to finally book a trip to Europe that I always wanted to take.
You inspired me to believe in myself and embrace risk. You inspired me to go into advertising even if they are unpaid gigs, take photos whenever I can, take on whatever paid video project I can get my hands on, and even take on a writing gig for Odyssey while going to school and working a full time job; you inspired me to "do more". You inspired me to keep going and keep fighting no matter how many times I fail. You've inspired me to want move to New York City after college which is something I always thought was too crazy to do.
Ever since I found you, I feel I became a different man. Thank you so much.
Whenever I go to New York City, I always wonder if I'm gonna run into you. Hasn't happened yet but I hope to shake your hand and thank you in person. I'm not sure if you'll read this, but if you do, thank you, Casey Neistat.
