A Decade Earlier

Dear Sarah of 1997,

This your future you, 10 years later. You just started high school. It's December now so you've finally figured out where the stairwells go in that ridiculous old building they call the East Campus. Even though they gave you two lockers, you'll only use one. You'll take a reading appreciation class and skip entire sections of Jane Eyre yet get 100 extra credit points for reading it. You're going to have good friends this year. Enjoy that. Stop being so dramatic.

High school will be easy for you. You'll end up skipping a lot of class your senior year because you can't convince yourself to go to class when you keep acing tests. You should go to class anyway because in college you'll need that motivation.

You won't have a lot of girl friends. They'll come and go each year. Appreciate the things they bring into your life and let them go when they let you down. Listen to your mom when she says these girls won't be your bridesmaids.

When that dark-haired boy tries to break up with you because you're going to college, LET HIM. You're fighting for a relationship that is ultimately going to rock you to your core. Sometimes letting go saves you from years of recovering from a broken heart and anger I couldn't convince you now that you're capable of.

You're going to envelope yourself with journalism. It's your passion. But believe what's written on the ceiling of your college newspaper newsroom - "newspapers will always break your heart." You're going to experience a lot of heartache and hard lessons in the unfairness of life. Please, please, please keep a journal so you can remember what happened later on.

A few other things to remember:

- Don't lie to your parents. It's going to ruin your relationship with them for a few years. Whatever you think is worth losing trust, is not. Also, when they tell you you can't drive because you are crying hysterically, for the love of god, listen.

- I know you don't think your college GPA is important because that won't be on your newspaper resume. Resist that belief. You will want to go to graduate school in 10 years and you will want a time machine to kick your own ass when you have to turn in your applications.

- You are skinny and beautiful. You just don't know how to pull it all together yet. Stop skipping meals. It's so unnecessary.

- Don't just study abroad for a month. Do it for a year or at least a semester. You won't miss out on things, you'll gain the most life-changing experiences of your life.

- It won't be as you imagined when you were younger. After college you'll go through several jobs and several abusive bosses. You will cry in your car after work for weeks on end. But you will make it through it. You'll lose direction, gain confusion but will endure it all with grace.

- Stop spending your money on shit. You'll want it later and wish there was a 10-year return policy.

- Your future red Mustang is SO cool except when you are digging it out of Minnesota snow, or getting it stuck a the bottom of a driveway because it's rear wheel drive. Buy a Honda Civic instead especially if you can get a hybrid. Do you even know what that is?

I know that in the next decade you're going to wonder if it all will ever come together. You're going to wonder if you'll ever find your soulmate, if you'll ever be excited on your way to work or if your parents will approve of it all.

Consider this letter a big hug to let you know it's going to be OK. You will be beautiful inside and out. You aren't going to figure out your career right away but your life will become bigger than what you do for money. You're not going to get married after college but you'll be grateful that you didn't.

You'll find someone that eliminates the trust issues you thought you had. You won't have to ask him how he feels because he always tells you. When you fight, you won't have that stomach ache worried he's reconsidering. This is how it's supposed to be.

So be brave, stop worrying, and never forget who you are.

Love, your future you.