Dear 16-Year-Old-Me,
If you’re reading this and you’re wondering who wrote this letter to you, spoiler alert, it’s yourself, four years into the future. Right now, you’re halfway through your junior year of high school and you aren’t really focused on much of anything except your grades and your small circle of friends. Oh, and you also started your first job. If I could go back in time and tell you what I know now, I would tell you that it’s okay to finish high school and be unsure of what college you want to go to and what you want to major in, I would tell you that you need to learn to not care about what other people think, and most importantly, I would tell you that your life is going to fall into place and everything happens for a reason.
At this time, you were really interested in going to vet school. You were enrolled in the vet-tech program at the technical high school up the road, and it was going rather well. You were sure that that was what you wanted to do for the rest of your life. Your love for animals was so strong and so passionate, that you wanted to do whatever it took to get into veterinarian school, no matter how long (or expensive) that road ahead of you was. Well, let future you be the one to tell you that your plans for life after high school certainly did a complete 360; but, don’t freak out, I’m here to tell you that it’s okay.
You read a lot of books in high school and wrote a lot of papers on those books. Your teachers, especially your English teachers, tell you that writing seems to come naturally to you, and that you should consider English or Journalism as a major in college. They told you that you would be very successful and do extremely well for yourself. Here’s another spoiler alert for you – you’re majoring in journalism in college! Don’t panic when I tell you this; you had a tough time deciding on what to major in and even changed it a few times, but you figured it out with a little guidance from your family, friends and your academic adviser!
During your junior year of high school, you started to fall in love with a band called All Time Low. People told you that you shouldn’t be into them because their music wasn’t good, their lyrics were the typical bubblegum pop-music that was playing all over the radio, and that they weren’t very attractive at all. Well, I’m here with another spoiler alert (surprise, bet you didn’t see that coming,). All Time Low was one of the biggest influences and inspirations that got you through the rest of high school, and leading up into college. You met them two years later and have seen them seven times. This was a band that you truly fell in love with, and future you is so glad you did, because you still love them today.
When you stopped caring what other people thought about you, the things that you did, the people you hung out with and especially the music you liked, you began to live a much better life, and let future you be the one to tell you; it all worked out for the best. Life after high school was a little tough, and the road was bumpy, some of those bumps were harder to get over than others, but you did it. If I could turn back time and change anything that’s happened, I wouldn’t change a thing. Everything that happened when you were 16 worked out, and now, 20-year-old you couldn’t be happier. In the words of your favorite band, All Time Low, “Hold on tight, this ride is a wild one.” Life as you know it can be a little complicated, but as long as you keep your head high and know that you can always ask for help when you need it, I know that you’ll be okay. Just know that future you is proud of you for the choices and decisions that you made leading up to this point, and I thank you, so, so much, for turning out to be such an amazing, hard-working person.
Sincerely,
20-Year-Old-Me
