When I was in high school, my theatre teacher would make us write a letter to ourselves at the beginning of every school year that she kept and gave back to us at the end of the year. As part of the letter, she asked us to talk about goals we had for ourselves during the year, personally, academically, and artistically. I always thought of it as a good way to figure out what I wanted to accomplish and a helpful tool to aid my end of the year reflections.

Since I move back to school in less than a week now, I thought this would be a good opportunity to begin the tradition again and write a letter for myself. It will also help hold me more accountable for what I say because I'll be publicly sharing my goals and wishes.

Dear Jess,

Congratulations on finishing your second year of college! At this point, you are now half way done with your undergrad and preparing to begin taking Masters classes.

I hope you had a really successful year. Whatever successful ends up being for you at this point. I know how much you have going on, and right now, the course of your year is very unpredictable and up in the air. I hope your path got somewhat clearer for you.

I hope that you continued to get mostly As. If you didn't, that's okay, too, because I know how hard you work every single day. I know that you try your best and put it as much effort as you can. The most important thing is that you are learning.

I hope that you are a better stage manager. The more you continue to do this new thing that you love, the better you will become. As much as you don't like to recognize it, you are a strong leader and capable of so much. Right now, I can see that stage management is kind of your thing, and I hope that became clearer for you.

I hope that you became a better theatre artist overall. You are so talented, and I hope that you used that talent to do big and bold things. I hope you made theatre that is important, important for yourself and for others. I hope that you feel more secure in your decision to be a theatre educator.

I hope that you've learned to put yourself first. For years now, you've put yourself before others. You've put your work and your art before yourself. It's beginning to really take its toll. Your happiness and mental health matter. You are the most important person in your life. I hope you've taken the time to rest and recharge and learned to ask for help when you need it.

I hope you continued to push yourself further and further out of your comfort zone. You've come a long way in the past few years, and I am excited to see what else you have been able to accomplish.

Lastly, I hope you found love. I hope you found it in your friendships, both old and new. I hope you found it in your art. I hope you found it in the ones who love you most. Most importantly, I hope you found it in yourself. You are so worthy of love.

With Love,

Jess