I write this letter to my future self, hoping to read this when I graduate college. Who knows if that will be in four years, or five - a Northeastern student's expected graduation date never seems to be set in stone. Why is that? Of course: co-ops, or as the school likes to drill into us: "experiential learning" experiences. Regardless of if it is 2020 or 2021, when my future self is reading this, I hope this letter finds you well-fed and hopefully with more than $4 in your bank account. You're going out into the real world, you can't live on meal swipes and dining dollars anymore.
About a month and a half into my freshman year here, I already feel the pressure to decide just about everything about my life - from my career to what I will eat on this exact day, in 32 years. But still, the amount of pressure you are feeling right now, is unimaginable for a naive little freshman. Sorry, I'm sure the whole "no pressure" thing isn't helping... I'm sure you're doing a GREAT job! (that's meant to be supportive, not threatening)
When I was forced to write a letter like this as a high school freshman, I didn't take it seriously. I wrote about who my friends were, about my present-day drama, and nerves about starting high school. But realistically, I was entering high school in a town I had lived in since age 5, with 125 people that I had known for those 9 years. What I'm trying to say is that there wasn't much to be nervous about. But, thanks to my freshman year (of high school) self, I now know the disappointment one feels when opening that "freshman year to senior year" letter only to find a couple of sentences scribbled down.
So here's a (somewhat) upgraded version:
As you graduate, I know you are leaving Northeastern behind. But don't forget a few of the things that treated you so well during your time at Northeastern (I am sure I don't know all of them but, I'm still a freshman): Rebecca's for lunch, live by it. Hide cookies in the to-go coffee cups - trust me, NO ONE can tell you're stealing from the dining hall. Extra meal swipes? Go to Outtakes.
Sorry that was all about food. Did you expect anything else from me? Seriously..
But on a more serious note (or as serious as a letter to myself can get), I hope that Northeastern has become a home for you the way I expect it to be. I hope that you won't forget the memories you made here - yes including the long lines at the AfterHours Starbucks and the cold walks to/from parties. I hope that Northeastern has done a lot for you, but more importantly, I hope that you have done a lot for yourself at Northeastern. I hope this anxious freshman, always hesitant to take the first step, has turned into a college graduate, never questioning herself.
Most importantly, I hope that you have found the new, but also kept some of the old.
Here's to my next four or five years at Northeastern; and to your past four or five years at Northeastern. Let them be filled with uber rides home from MIT/Harvard/BC/BU (and others) and "Stacy's Mom" chants at hockey games...
