A Letter to My Younger Self
A Letter to My Younger Self
Dear Jackson, I know right now you are feeling overwhelmed, confused, scared, but don’t worry, with the amazing power of technology your future self is here to help. High school will be a great time in your life, full of highs and lows. It will help shape the kind of person you grow up to be. You should feel excited to enter this new chapter of your life and don’t take it for granted, enjoy it while it lasts.
Coming into a large public high school is not an easy transition. You will see and hear things you’ve never heard or saw before, meet many extraordinary people and build friendships that will last you the rest of your life. After going through the full experience myself, I’d say I have really good advice for you. One thing you need to keep in mind is that fitting in doesn’t matter. Trying to change who you are just to impress others is not a route for success. Just being you and finding friends that love you for who you are will make you way more comfortable in the future. I know it’s hard but just trust me, you will find your people. One really great way to meet friends is through sports. Playing sports early on for the school will not only help you meet some amazing people but also stay active and in good health. For you, I’d recommend basketball. You’ll be able to pick it up quickly and have an amazing time playing for school, that’s a promise.
You probably have already met your freshman english teacher, Mrs. Glass. What you don’t know yet is that she will end up being one of the best teachers you’ve ever had. Mrs. Glass will change the way you write forever. Like your sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Glass really cares about all her students and will offer a great learning environment for you. One thing that she’ll do that will help you tremendously is offering before school help every day at eight. These sessions give you access to one on one help and advice for you to do well in not only her class but future ones as well. I remember one of the first times I ever went to one of her morning help sessions. It was a rainy thursday in mid september, a hurricane was due to make landfall late saturday afternoon. Since hearing about the hurricane I had really been slacking on my work because I knew that the storm would knock out our power and cancel school for at least a week. I had come in to talk to her about my grade in the class. During the session she revealed to me that I had been missing assignments due online, I was simply not staying organized and was letting the work from all my classes pile up. That day after school Mrs. Glass and I met in her room again to fix the problem. She let me re-do all of my missed assignments and also taught me how to stay organized by keeping up a calendar to chart out all my assignments week by week. After that day you will be transformed as a student completely. You become more ambitious and motivated to turn in all of your work, and will end up with high grades in all of your freshman year classes including english. Mrs. Glass will help you so much on your journey through high school, always offering a helping hand when you need it even after you leave her class.
Four years later, you still find yourself thinking about Mrs. Glasses class, your freshman year and everything that you learned. The foundation of you, as a writer, a student, and as a person was built that year. The same writing techniques she taught you as a fifteen year old are present in the letter. In fact they are in everything you write, to this day. After spending time working day after day with Mrs. Glass, you become a strong writer and that really does help in the long run. For example, later on when you want to apply for college, your writing skills will come into play in a big way. It was because of your relentless work at english that you were able to get into the school of your choosing. You will definitely thank yourself down the line for working so hard. You also will have to thank Mrs. Glass, she is a huge reason you are where you are today.
