Dear freshman Abdullah,

It's the first day of school, and you're sitting in your seat waiting for class to start.

Have you ever seen a deer staring into the headlights of a car as the car speeds towards it on a road? Have you seen that look of utter surprise and fright?

That is the exact look that you had at that moment. If I was a fly on the wall that day, I wouldn't be on the wall. I would probably be dead because I was laughing too hard at you, fell off and got stepped on.

I remember the thoughts that were racing through your head. I know you're thinking, I have no friends in my classes. I don't know anyone here. I'm gonna be that one kid who sits in the corner, doesn't say a word and has no friends. This year is going to be terrible.

Dispel those fears right there and then, buddy. Because I'm here to tell you that you are going to meet lots of new people. After all, you are a very social person and need people to talk to. You'll start a few conversations with some new people and make some great friends. Soon, a few turns to dozens, and after a week or two, you'll have more friends than you had in middle school.That first semester will be amazing for you. You're going to have tons of friends you love. School is going to be a breeze for you. You're finally going to be starting on your soccer team, and you're going to have the best year of your soccer career. Life is going to be looking great, and your confidence levels are through the roof.

Let me tell you this: don't get too comfortable.

Because around the end of the first semester, the roller coaster of freshman year will start to go down. Your confidence has peaked, and you start to get cocky. Real cocky. You also gain some bad habits. As a result, you will start to see that after a while, you will make some enemies from people who you once thought were friends. And they will make your life miserable. Caught in the haze of the fantastic start of the year, you will continue your bad habits. And it's going to start to have bad effects on... well, everything, really. Your school life, your social life and your family life are all negatively impacted. And when you are at your lowest, you finally say to yourself: wow, I really need to change.

You learn a lot from that part of the year. You gain new insight to the proper way to deal with people, how to act and how to be a better person overall.

The rest of the year will flash by very fast. Until you get to the end of the year, that is. You are suddenly hit with a lot of work. A lot. And even though that has never been a problem for you, it becomes one now, especially since one teacher, in particular, seems to have a personal vendetta against you. She refuses to help you and actually turns you away when you go in early for extra help. Do not despair. Study hard, and you'll end up getting a great grade on the final test and maintaining your A in the class. You will feel amazing. All that hard work, effort and nights spent staying up and studying finally pay off. Celebrate your little success, because you don't know how the next year will turn out.

So as you sit there, frozen to your seat like an icicle, know that the year will turn out just fine. From the highest highs to the lowest lows, everything that you experiences helps you mature and become a better person that knows how to live life a bit better.

So stop worrying, keep your end goal in sight and take the year by storm.

Sincerely,

Sophomore Abdullah

P.S. Oh, and appreciate your healthcare teacher a lot. Please. She's a great person, but she gets fired for tasing her students. Please stop throwing assorted fruits at her when she's not looking.