Hey there Baby Sister,

Well, the time has finally come; you are graduating high school. I can’t believe it. I feel like I just graduated, like yesterday. Where did all the young and innocent times go? Anyway, moving on from me being sentimental (as always), it is time to give you some loving sisterly advice about your freshman year. I know you are probably rolling your eyes, well attempting to, and groaning but it is my job as your big sister to be there and try to help by not only protecting but also guiding you along this crazy life. You are totally welcome by the way.

So before I begin my amazing words of advice, you need to realize how lucky I am to have you by my side ever since you were born. The minute I met you I took you under my wing and wanted to share everything with you. I know that I rarely say this but you are such an amazing and beautiful girl that I get so excited to tell everyone that you are my little sister. Honestly, there are times that I envy you. You amaze me everyday with the young woman that you are becoming and I cannot say it enough how blessed I feel to look after you. We may fight and bicker every once in a while but there is no one else on this whole planet that I would want to call my baby sister.

Now that I got some of my mushy lovey stuff out of the way, on to the advice! Just to clarify, I am not trying to tell you how to live your life; that being said, please go through recruitment. I know I bring it up every once in while, but it’s not for me that I want you to experience the joys of being in a sorority it’s for you. It sounds like a biased piece of advice because of me being in a sorority but it’s only to help you. I’m not telling you to join mine, as much as I would love to call you a biological sister as well as a sorority sister, but join any of them that you feel like you found your home in. I want you to be able to look at yourself in the mirror and see the amazing girl looking back at you that I see everyday. I want you to experience the love and bonds that come with being part of an amazing sisterhood. I want you to continue to volunteer and give back because that is the type of person you are. Even if you choose not to rush and join another club, they will be lucky to have you.

On to my next piece of advice, as we all get older we change and so do our friendships. There will be friends from high school that you won’t see or talk to all too much now that you are graduating. You will make friends your freshman year that may not still be there your sophomore year. You could find your best friend and future bridesmaid your sophomore or junior year. Whatever happens, do not worry or stress too much about it. That is what is supposed to happen, the important ones, the ones worth keeping around will always be there and just a text or call away. So will I.

You deciding to attend the same college as me makes me so happy. Don’t worry, I don’t plan on being with you 24/7 because come on, I have a life. I’m only kidding---whenever you need me feel free to walk over to my house, yes I plan on giving you a spare key to it so you can come eat whatever food I make. Trying not to show you off to all my friends will be tempting but I will do my best to let you live your own life and pop in whenever you need me.

Now, to the fun part: parties. You will be able to get into pretty much all the parties because look at you---yes, you are a hot freshman girl. After a party, you will get the munchies. Late-night calories don’t count---that night. However, as long as you keep going to the gym and swimming you will be just fine. I have to add this just to make myself feel better: drunk boys only want one thing. You probably will not find your boyfriend at a frat party. But that does not mean that you can’t have fun.

As much as you say it, and I know you will, you will not attend every class. You will skip that one lecture cause “it’s a nice day” or because “you overslept your alarm” but that is totally okay. I mean come on, our campus is only 20 minutes from the beach and we will definitely be taking trips to the beach for the day.

This would not be complete without me saying this cliché saying: follow your dreams, you can do anything you set your heart on, and whenever you need me I will be there. Enjoy every second of your freshman year, before you know it we will be packed up ready to go home for the summer. Make some mistakes, stay up late, and have some stories to share with me when we eat dinner together every Sunday. Now get ready, live it up. Welcome to college baby sister.

Love always,

Your Proud Big Sis