I have decided to write this letter, because I believe that there are a few things that younger me needs to hear.

Dear Younger Me,

When sit here and think of younger me, I start to cringe. I want to start off and apologize for that. Without all those cringe worthy moments I would not be the man I am today. You are going to get knocked down so many times, but you can persevere through anything. Not to spoil anything, but you are going to finish second A LOT. At the time it might hurt, but keep working harder, you will win in the end. You are going to make a whole lot of mistakes and you are going to fail, but one person who will be there and love you through it all is Mom. Don’t waste this opportunity to share everything with her. My one big piece of advice is to make amends with Mom. We are only given one mom, don’t waste your time arguing with her. Be honest and tell her everything, she is an amazing listener. She will comfort you when you are down and knows just what to say and when to say it. She is ridiculously smart. My second piece of advice is surround yourself with good friends. You are loyal to a fault, don’t let others take advantage of your friendship. Friends like Alex, Kerrington, and Jake are friends that you will cherish into your college years. Alex and Kerringiton are people that you will call and they will listen. You have an amazing heart and I encourage you to not wear it on your sleeve, unless you want it to get broken, A LOT. I know that you might hate me for saying this, but it is okay to be single in high school. Remember when I said your heart is going to get broken, A LOT. Well, this is what I was talking about. Please, have a desire to be single in high school. Yes, Alex and Kerrington may have found love in high school, but that does not mean you will also. Save yourself the heartache and don’t obsess over needing a relationship in high school and your early years in college. My final piece of advice may be one that you don’t want to hear but, doing good well in school will payoff. Yes, middle school may seem stupid and pointless, but trust me those Latin terms will come in handy later down the road. Yes, sitting in Ms. Davis’ class may seem awful and feel like the end of the world, but you can do it! Just wait until you have Chemistry in College at 8am, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. High school is not meant to be easy, so apply yourself and do well. Take harder classes and do well in them, you will thank me later. Trust me, you will be happy that you did. I could probably write pages and pages of pieces of advice for you, but I am just going to leave you these. I believe that these are some of the most important things that you need to hear in your young life.

-Benjamin David Bartel