Dear Middle School Me,
Right now you are living in a time that I now refer to as “the lost years.” You are wearing black and blue eye shadow and neon colored tank tops, and you’re running away from boys when they come up to talk to you. It all seems a little rough right now, doesn’t it? It gets better, I promise. The thing is, these years that you’re living in right now aren’t going to be lost at all. They’re awkward, sure. Maybe a little painful and confusing, and they’ll probably make you cringe when you look back at those yearbook photos, but you’ll still remember them forever.
I know that this point in your (our?) life isn’t the best time to be alive. Puberty sucks. School sucks. Everything sucks. But I want you to look in the mirror and take a deep breath. I know you don’t like what you see —y ou aren’t like the other girls with their long, blonde hair and freckle-less skin. They don’t have a gap between their two front teeth or sit up straight in their seats with interest during history class. They don’t write in journals like you do, and that’s probably why you don’t have many friends…right? Wrong. Give it time, my friend, give it time. Soon you’ll realize just how awesome of a person you are, and by junior year of high school not only will you be drowning in college visits and AP homework, but you’ll also have made amends with the people you thought hated you for five years.
Speaking of friends, by eighth grade you’ll have made and lost so many of them, you won’t be able to keep track. You’ll have done the right thing by shaking off the ones who brought you down. And you might have done some stupid things and lost some people who were important, and in those times you’ll have lost yourself too. But don’t worry, middle school is a scary thing and sometimes we don’t always know who we are. Eventually, you’ll figure it out, I promise. Now, I’m writing you this letter from my college dorm room, and I’m still pretty damn confused about who we are so … don’t get your hopes up too high, but it’ll happen. Be patient.
Right now you are constantly questioned about who you have a crush and always wondering who might have a crush on you. I know it feels like getting your first boyfriend & your first kiss right now is everything in the world, but it’s not. It’s a good thing that you didn’t kiss that boy when your friends dared you to. You might have gotten a lot of shit for it, but don’t worry about that. You aren’t “forever alone.” You’ll have a first love. And then you’ll have a first heart break…so don’t get too anxious about boys.
Now I just have a few tips and tricks for you to remember. First of all, your life is not defined my homemade fortune tellers. Nor is your popularity status determined by how many silly bandz you have. You don't have to do everything you're dared to in Truth or Dare. You know that girl who sits next to you at lunch? It may seem like you'll never get to know her, but within the next 4 years she'll become one of the most important people in your life. Also—Justin Bieber makes a comeback. A huge one. Oh, and One Direction breaks up. Sorry.
I’ll end with this: don’t be afraid of what you love to do. Don’t cower behind what everyone thinks is the cool thing to do because once (almost) everyone matures during high school, no one cares what you like to do. You’ll find a group of people who will accept everything you are: drama geek, writer, etc. So don’t sweat it because not everything is the end of the world.
Sincerely,
A slightly more mature and slightly less confused version of yourself
