Every year of my life, I’ve watched from afar as graduating seniors turn their tassels and step into a new chapter of their life.
And while I have gotten to experience this once before in the form of high school graduation, it pales in comparison to college graduation. When I graduated high school, I still had the safety net of attending university. While my world changed in many ways, I knew that I was moving on to just another form of education. Going to classes, getting good grades and doing extracurriculars.
In many ways, I felt comfort in this familiarity. In contrast, college feels like a purgatory stage before entering what I’ve always been told is “the real world”.
And now as I end my sophomore year and hit the halfway mark in my college experience, the thought of graduation feels more real than ever. I have two years left to make the most of my time at my dream school, so I am writing this letter to my future self all about my hopes for her graduation.
Dear Me,
Congratulations! The day has finally come, your college graduation. There’s a lot of things we’re going to talk about, but I first want to ask, did you get those Harry Styles tickets?
But really though, this is a huge day! I’d be lying if I didn’t say college has been a lot harder than you could have prepared yourself for. The concepts are a lot more complex and it was so difficult navigating such a big campus. But that really has been part of the joy of it all. You put yourself out of your element, and as I am writing this now, you’ve grown so much since you started.
Beginning with academics, can you believe you started as a business econ major? That changed really quickly, and I’m super happy about that. I love what I am learning now in cognitive science, a major I don’t think I would have ever dreamed of originally pursuing. I would have never expected to find myself coding let alone enjoying it as much as I do now.
As you know, I’m really nosy, so I have many questions to ask you. Did you get into the communications major? Did you double major? How about the clubs and internships, how are those going?
Regardless of those answers, what I really do want to say is “You did it!” All the long nights and flashcards paid off. The stresses of going from quarter to quarter, starting classes, midterms, finals, the rinse and repeat of it all. It was all were worth it. I know you drive yourself mad stressing about grades, but if you’re reading this, you did it. That B on your Psych 85 midterm did not stop you from getting the life you’ve always dreamed of, so I hope you have learned to lighten up a little bit.
As for your career, what did you end up doing? I went in with a plan to do marketing but little did I know there were so many subsets of career paths you could take. PR has always interested me, but I’ve been really opening up my mind to the possibility of going into tech because I’ve been falling more and more in love with it.
And how is everything with your friends? Leaving home and moving to a new city was probably one of the hardest things that I have experienced. It is a culture shock, and it is terrifying to reset and form new relationships. We really got lucky with the people we have met so far. I have found people who I know will be in my life for years to come, and we’re only halfway through. I cannot wait to see all the relationships you formed and the people who have come in to shape your life. Hopefully your plans to live with your current roommates have gone as hoped, and you guys are planning the next chapters together. Or, maybe you met new people who you’re forming your post grad life with. Either way, I’m sure it’ll be amazing.
As I close off this letter, I want to have a heart-to-heart with you. I am so incredibly proud of how you opened up these past two years and persevered through the ups and the downs. Things in college are a lot more complicated, but that is a good thing. Right now, I am the happiest I have been in life, and I know with your drive and determination, doors will continue to open up for you.
I hope you made the most of every moment and really soaked it all in. I hope you enjoyed your nights out with friends but also enjoyed the little moments. The moments where you huddled up together in the library, sending each other texts while in complete silence, trying to crack a smile on each other’s faces. The late nights in the dorms where it was 2 am and your eyes were closing, but you wanted to stay because everyone was together and laughing. Your afternoons at Kerckhoff where you paused every time they played a Taylor Swift song or even that one day they randomly played Super Bass. I hoped you lived and were present in every one of these moments, because they don’t last forever.
I know that as you read this in the future, things will have turned out alright. Your ambition will push you, and your optimism will fuel you. Going to UCLA is a privilege and an opportunity, and you made the most of every moment. I won’t keep you too long because I know you have a ceremony to attend, but really I am so proud. You’re going to live an incredible life, and I am so excited for what is next to come.
With love,
Yourself