You’re probably feeling some regret right now about dropping out and doing online school with all of your friends returning back to Brookwood. You’ll feel that regret throughout your whole year as one by one, most of your friends don’t talk to you or hang out with you. Although, who could blame them with your mental state? You were struggling immensely and hell, I didn’t even wanna be around you. Don’t worry, they’re still your friends. Once your year is over though, you’ll be ready to return to Brookwood a much, much happier person. It was a difficult decision to drop out, but it was the best decision of your life. I hate to bum you out, but, your fight against depression and anxiety is still a continuous battle. I assure you, though, it does get better.

When you return with a more stable mental/emotional state, the next two years of high school fly by. You’ll make some new friends, lose some old ones. You’ll even fall in love! And consequently get your heart broken, but you’ll survive and move on to better things. You’ll struggle with math (trust me, that hasn’t gotten easier) but your hard work will pay off and you’ll graduate in the top 10% with Honors and as an AP Scholar. You even got into your first choice on a full ride scholarship!

You’ll get a couple of retail jobs and, yes, all the rumors are true: retail is hell. But you’ll discover something about yourself that you wouldn’t have otherwise. You love talking to people and helping them. It’ll inspire you to pursue industrial psychology instead of criminal psych, and you love it immensely. Your psychology classes get more and more interesting the deeper you get into it, and man does it get deep.

Unfortunately, you never get accepted into that study abroad program in Germany, after years and years of applying. Don’t worry though, you’re setting up a plan to go over your junior year of college. Yes, your German is still atrocious but you can deal with that later.

Your sophomore year of college is the complete opposite of your sophomore year of high school. For starters, it’s a hell of a lot harder. Aristotle is as dense as you thought he was going to be. Don’t slack off, you’ll regret it. Spoiler alert: you’ve even signed up to rush! Yes, you! The angsty 16 year old you that denounces all things Greek Life. And, yes, you’re incredibly excited.

I assure you things do get better. It doesn’t get easier but it does get better. You experience the worst loss of your life when you have to put down Sweet Pea, and truthfully, two months later, you still feel the pain as strongly as the day it happened. You have a new pup though, and she’s as cute as she can be. You have incredible friends who are there to support you and your classes are wonderful. All I can tell you is don’t give up. I know you’re struggling right now and giving up seems like the right thing to do, but trust me, it’s not. I just wanna give you a hug. I know how lonely and upset you are, and on a daily basis too. You are so much happier and confidant now and you become one hell of a woman if I do say so myself. Even with all of your struggles, you will love your life so much, I promise.