Dear Middle School Me,
I know you’ve written a lot of “Dear Future Self” letters for school, so it must be nice to get one in exchange. I bet you’re very curious about the future, but I promise you’ll get there. I don’t want to spoil too much, but I’ll give you some advice.
First of all, don’t be afraid to go to high school. The teachers won’t be mean at all. They’ll be some of the best people you will meet. When you need a place to study during lunch, it helps to have friends with empty classrooms. School will get harder, but you will just try more. Admit it, you never needed to work that hard in middle school, but you will soon have a pretty impressive work ethic.
Also, you should go back to cheerleading. I know being in front of people is scary to you (unfortunately that feeling will never go away), but trust me, it will be worth it. Cheerleading in high school will create memories that you will cherish forever. You will meet some of your best friends and even when you’re my age, they'll still be your best friends. When it’s over, you’re going to miss it all: the practices, the pasta dinners, painting posters. But mostly you’re going to miss the feeling of the floodlights shining down on you while you cheer your team on to victory. You will feel so much pride in your school that your heart will swell.
Lucky for you, middle school drama will not last forever. It will be short-lived, and you will forget how much everything felt like the most important thing in the world. Your friends will stop giving you the silent treatment, and you will stop having to walk on eggshells all the time to please people. After you leave middle school, you won't feel as painfully awkward, like everyone is looking at you and judging your every move. You will lose the attitude you think you have to have and realize that you don't like makeup and clothes as much as you thought you needed to. The most fun thing for you is geeking out over books and movies with your best friends, so keep doing that. You will learn to stop doing what everyone else is doing just to fit in. This is the time when you will start figuring out who you are. Drop the people who make you feel like less of a person for doing what you want. You’ll be so much better off for it.
And since I know you’re probably very curious, you’ll get over the guy you’re hung up over. Don’t worry. You’re over being boy crazy.
Just enjoy the next few years. I promise everything will be better than middle school. You’ll have some amazing experiences with your friends, fall in love, find new passions, and your favorite boy band in the entire world will be formed. You don’t even know what’s coming!
