To the cheer captain,
To the dancer,
To the comet proud girl,
To the school hating high schooler,
To the constant school skipper,
To the red-headed, green-eyed gal,
To the unsure high school senior,
To the just breezing by student,
To the heart-broken teenager,
To the girl with little cares but yet cared so much what people thought,
To the partier,
To the ready to leave high school kid,
To the West Chester University commit,
To the 2017 Abington Heights High School graduate
… it’s been four years.
Dear 2017 graduating Abby,
When I reflect on who you were then versus who you are today, I don’t know whether to laugh, or feel sad for you. It’s funny to think about how lost you were at one point thinking things would never get better but the reality is those feelings were real. You were leaving your toxic high school as a toxic person because that’s what it taught you. It’s hard to not blame yourself for it but it’s true, when you go to a small town, competitive high school, that’s what you’re going to get. Everyone experienced this in their own way and some still do, but luckily for you that changed in ways you’d never expect.
When starting college, the toxic behavior still continued for a bit of time because you decided to attend a college away from home which wasn’t for you. You weren’t thinking of yourself, instead you were thinking of what others would think about you staying home for school, so you chose to go away. The day you decided to transfer home FOR YOU was the day everything improved. You have never enjoyed school so how would being in an unfamiliar place ever help that situation? It wouldn’t and didn’t. That doesn’t work for you or me. At first, you felt upset about transferring home out of still having cares for what people thought of you but when you started at the University of Scranton, boy oh boy did everything change.
You formed awesome relationships with your teachers, felt comfortable in the environment you were in, exceled in academics (drastically), became healthy both physically and mentally, interned at really cool places and finally felt pure happiness with who you were for once. Your 2017 self can never fathom the thought of this. It’s shocking, I know but it’s true. You may be getting ready to graduate with excitement to not deal with all of the BS anymore but four years later you’re doing the same but feeling a lot different.
Wow, four years went by just… like…that. I remember writing my 8th grade later to you, my high school senior self, and receiving that letter four years later and thinking wow, that went by quick, but college definitely went by a lot quicker. Graduating this time around, you can’t help but feel sad while feeling prouder and more sentimental. School is all you have known for the last 22 years and now the real world is here but this time you’re finally happy with yourself because you focused on YOURSELF, for once. At the end of the day, the only person that has you is YOU. Every decision you make has to benefit yourself before others, as selfish as you used to think that sounds, it’s honestly true. You still face struggles, but it doesn’t bother you like it used to. You have grown so much and yet it’s just the beginning of this exciting life.
So…
To the communication studies student,
To the journalism and electronic media major,
To the University of Scranton student,
To the avid gym go-er,
To the intern,
To the college senior,
To the newly inducted National Honors Society for communication studies girl,
To the red-headed, green-eyed gal,
To that 2017 Abington Heights High School graduate
… hang in there.
Those four years you felt like were never going to start, yet let alone, end have come and (almost) gone but this time you are truly the best version of yourself. Things will get better. It’s just getting started.
Happy 2021 graduation year Abby and to all my other 2021 graduates- I wish you the best of luck on your future endeavors. Like the saying says: “the world is yours,” so make the best of it.