Written by Isabella Halteman. Photo courtesy of Unsplash.
Dear 14-year-old freshman me,
I would say I hope you’re enjoying high school, but we both know that’s not true. It will get better. Eventually, just give it some time. Here are a few things that you can do to make it better:
- Sleep. For the love of God, kid, stop staying up all night for no reason. You can’t keep sleeping through history class.
- Listen to your mom. Yes, she can be a bit uptight. But she knows a lot more than you give her credit for.
- When your friend group from middle school breaks up, let it. People aren’t meant to stay in your life forever. It’s ok to let them go.
- Lastly, that guy you’ve been dating? When you break up with him (which you will), don’t look back. Remember, he is a Pisces.
I could give you a million suggestions for improving your life, but I know you’ll only learn from your mistakes. If you listen to any of it, maybe just try and be a tad less angsty. I’ll just tell you about college, so you have something to look forward to.
I know you were holding out for NYU, but you will be surprised to hear that you didn’t even apply there. The truth is, you want to do too much for a school like that. You ended up at an amazing art school in Savannah to study performance and writing. You get to be surrounded by the most creative people you will ever meet and share your passions. Your professors are all working artists and/or professionals themselves and have endless amounts of knowledge and stories they want to share with you. You get to take the classes you want to take, do whatever you want, and did I mention three-day weekends every week?
I know you were dead set on living in a big east coast city far away from your family, but that’s not really what you want. You are still two flights or a seventeen-hour car ride away from home – believe me, that’s enough. Your family misses you more than you would think, and you need them more than you would think. But there’s nothing wrong with that. Savannah has all the southern quirks wrapped up in a walkable city, and you will love it.
Keep trucking on, kiddo. You have some great adventures ahead of you.
Best,
19-year-old freshman you
