May 9, 2016
Dear underclassmen,
High school is hard, and anyone who tells you differently is lying. This is the time where you will feel this urge to find yourself amongst all the influences of new friends and acquaintances, and when you finally think you have found it, your world will change and you will realize you have no idea who you truly are once again. This is normal.
You will soon realize that your social life is this revolving door where people come in just as quickly as they are leaving and it is exhausting, but something you should not be closed off to because you learn so much from every experience you have. The important thing to remember is you should never feel afraid or bad about being who you want to be, even if you change a million times before you graduate, it is okay because the people around you will change no matter what.
My advice would be to appreciate time. This sounds very cliche and sentimental, but it is so true. It is more than appreciating the time where you are having fun, you must also appreciate the times where you are hurting and feel like the world around you is crashing down because these are the times where you truly start finding who you are and these are the opportunities in which you can rebuild yourself and control who and what you surround yourself with.
Rebuilding yourself is not being afraid to try new things just because you do not know someone else doing it or because you think the people around you might judge you for it. If you push yourself into things you have always wanted to try, you will surround yourself with people who have the same interests as you and you will ultimately meet some of the greatest friends you could ever ask for. Live for yourself because if you don’t, no one else will.
And most importantly, just have fun. Do not take things, other than academics, too seriously because if you do, these next four years will pass you by too quickly for you to even enjoy.
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