Throughout this letter, I will refer to myself in the future self as "you". It honestly seems wrong for me to refer to a person who's drastically changed and grown as "I", because technically speaking I'm not my senior self yet.

Dear (Senior) Anshi,

Where do I even start?

We've come a LONG way, Anshi. From our super hectic childhood in New Jersey and India to our semi-awkward pre-teen years in Georgia. But those times are for another conversation or maybe even another article; today I just want to talk to you about your years in high school.

You made it! You almost graduated (hopefully)! Here are a couple of things I want to talk to you about:

I hope you achieved everything you told your freshman self you would, like maintaining a 100+ weighted average or getting all 5s on AP exams. Your freshman self could do it (kinda), but I'm not really sure about sophomore or junior year. Even if you couldn't, I hope you still did everything in your right mind you could to try and achieve those goals. If you didn't, you should be feeling really guilty right now. Sorry not sorry?

But in all honestly, I wish that by now you've realized your future isn't only determined by how well you do in school, even though at times grades and GPA feel like the only two things that matter. Yes, you wanted to make your parents proud by excelling in everything and doing 10 times better in school than your brother did, but at the end of the day, it's your future, not theirs.

Okay, but the most important question, did you finally learn how to ride that damn Ripstik?

Did you get that summer glow-up that you always talked about? Did you get a better sense of fashion? Do you finally have clear skin? Did you get a car? Did you learn photography? Alright, I'll stop, but I'm praying all the answers to those questions will be yes.

By now you know what you want to "be when you grow up," right? Your rising sophomore self, aka me, still doesn't have a clue. You can choose to be whatever you want to, except for a career in doctoring or engineering. I'd be pissed if that's what you chose to do with your life, but hey, maybe being a doctor or engineer has finally grown on you like Papa said it would.

You also probably know what university you'll be attending by now. I only have one question for you regarding that. Are you satisfied with where you're going? Please be yes.

Anyways, you've left your mark at Northview High School, for better or worse. I hope you went back and actually visited some of your favorite freshman teachers like you said you would. Is my photo with Ms. Hedden still put up in her room?

Anshi, please record those final senior year memories until they're lost forever. I know you'll miss high school and your friends and your family and most importantly your lovely dog Po. There's no denying it. No need to get cocky and promise you'll only go out of state for college; you know for a fact in a week you'll get homesick and you'll start itching to come back home. Stay in touch with your current friends, too, please.

You're still your funny and goofy self, right? I hope you stay this way forever, I love that so much about you. Although sometimes you have to learn when to stop. Hopefully you never get kicked out of class repeatedly for laughing and talking like you did in Ms. Gordon's biology class in freshman year.

Last but not least, please go to Hoco and Prom! I know how you are; we both know you're the funny and entertaining friend, so why don't you show that side at homecoming or prom? Stop being dumb, go buy a dress (or that 80s inspired suit you wanted), and rock the dance floor.

Bye, Senior Anshi, I wish you the best in your life ahead.

With sincerity,

Rising Sophomore Anshi