by: Symone Conway
Younger Symone would be so proud of the woman I have become. Truth be told, I could have never imagined I would be who I am now. I am beyond in awe of the way I carry myself. And if I could write to my younger self, this is what I would say:
Dear younger Symone,
You are 19 now. I remember how excited you were in kindergarten about your high school musical sticker book, or how worried you were when you lost your tooth after school. We still have the matching outfit we wore with our best friend in first grade. You still talk to your second and third grade teacher after all this time. She even came to your prom send-off. You are still best friends with the girl you met in preschool and reconnected with in fourth grade. Your family remained in tact after the health scare in fifth grade. And although middle school wasn’t easy, the pimples went away, the period cramps became less scary, and the drama definitely didn’t matter five years later. You miss playing piano though, we regret stopping. We still watch The Princess and the Frog quite often.
High school was so fun and you were so excited your first year despite it being cut short. Lockdown may have been hard for your mental health, but you’re thriving now. You learned a lot about yourself and your family. You are more grateful. Junior year did a number with SAT prep and academics, but it payed off because we’re at Hampton! I know you are hurt by the many friendships that ended within those four years, or the people you never spoke to again after graduation, but you’ve entered a new ballpark. College is just has fun as your 7th grade science teacher said it would be.
College is great, and you’ve met a lot of amazing people. Some of these people you may be friends with forever, we’re not really sure yet. Your second semester is almost ever and its gone by really fast. You’re standing on business, doing great, and even have a few internships lined up for the summer. You’ve found your passion and are just as dedicated to majoring in psychology as you were to pretending to be a surgeon at 14 after watching Grey’s Anatomy. People from high school still text you and laugh about that actually. All the worries you had are definitely behind you, and you’ve found peace in telling your problems to God.
As we navigate being a young woman, we are getting closer with mom. She is our best friend and has gone through so much more than we realized when we were younger. You are still a daddy’s girl, and your relationship with your sisters is great despite being away from home. The pressures of being the oldest child hit you on a daily basis, but you never fail to make your family proud. You’re learning to give yourself grace and be patient— you’re your own worst enemy with the amount of stress you put on yourself. Sometimes you wish you had an older sister yourself, but you’ve found that sisterhood through your bigs who help you maneuver your first year of college.
You and your high school boyfriend didn’t last, and you’ve yet to find your HBCU love story, but we’re not giving up and enjoying life for what it is. We know what we want and have our standards set high! You’re in disbelief with some of the situationships you’ve had in life but they’ve helped you grow and been fun. We are proud of ourself for every accomplishment, and we have very big plans for the future.
Symone, you were never too sensitive or emotional. In fact, you get told a lot that it’s admirable how you communicate your feelings. Continue to be a light in everyone’s life and be patient; we are still growing.