I have always found it astonishing how rapidly summertime flies by. Last time I checked, I had just graduated high school, which was potentially my greatest accomplishment thus far in my academic career. Now that it is August, and everybody is getting ready to leave for the next journey of our lives, college, I would like to take the time to dedicate this article as an open letter to my friends before we all part ways, cities, and states. Whether you leave August 9, or August 30, I hope you take these thoughts with you on your journey-I will be taking them upon mine.
Life we as knew was is about to change. For the first time in our lives, we will be independent. No longer living under our parent's roofs’, nobody providing a curfew, or reminding us to set an alarm for the next day. It’s us and our roommates. Personally, I was blessed enough to be able to meet two wonderful humans that I am going to be sharing a dorm with this next year. I hope that you guys truly get to know your roommates. I hope you feel comfortable enough to share your past with them, all your secrets, all your best high school memories and your worst ones too. Keep all your glory moments, hang up pictures of all of your loveliest days next to twinkly lights on your bedside and don’t forget about your friends back home. At the same time, I hope that you feel secure enough to be able to move on from what was, and enter a world of “could be’s”. I hope you love your major, and that you figure out exactly what it is that you want to accomplish with your many talents and abilities. Study hard, don’t skip any assignments, don’t ditch class. Academics are about to get tough, and whether you are taking 13 credit hours, or 19, do not be afraid to ask for help. College is the time to reinvent ourselves. We are all given a clean slate, fresh GPA, fresh reputation. The pathway to our dream careers.
Remember that you deserve to have some fun too. They say college will be the best 4 years of your life, so it’s time to live our lives. Wear the bold lipstick, put on the high heels, talk to that super cute boy from your biology class. There is nothing to fear, you have nothing to lose. You will have “nights for the books”, and you will have nights where you want to stay in bed and binge watch Grey’s Anatomy-make the absolute utter best of both. I know that we will all make plenty of wonderful new friends, and I would like to take this moment to warn all of my friend’s future friends how lucky they are to know each and every one of you. They are lucky to stay up all night listening to you vent, they are lucky to know your quirky obsessions, your picky eating habits, your OCD cleanliness-all of it. Remember that you deserve nothing short of happiness, and I know we will all find it in our new homes away from home.
Although it is many months away, but I cannot wait until Thanksgiving and Winter Break, where we can all catch up for potentially the first time since we all left. I hope that we can have Friendsgiving dinner, and tell all the wild adventures of first semester. The crazy finals, the excursions, and the countless individuals we all are so beyond happy to have met.
Ultimately, I hope to try my very best to keep in touch with all of you, and I know you hope the same. I wish all of you the best of luck in your future endeavors. Future doctors, businessmen & women, teachers, politicians, therapists, musicians, engineers, and world leaders. Go out there and leave your mark, I have nothing but pure faith in you.
