May 16, 2020
Dear Senior Jacob,
I hope you’re staying safe and healthy. I seem to start all of my correspondence that way these days, but I really mean it every time. I sincerely hope there’s a COVID-19 vaccine in 2023.
So, this was not the Freshman year we anticipated. So many crazy things happened that I don’t even know where to begin. In January, it looked like the Third World War was on the horizon. Australia caught on fire in February. In March, the entire world shut down, Longwood closed its doors, and I somehow became a homeschool teacher to two little brothers. We were all so tired by April that when The Pentagon told us aliens were real, we didn’t even care. Now it’s May, you finished your Freshman year at your kitchen table on a random Wednesday at 10:30 p.m., and instead of rejoicing, you’re freaking out about killer hornets. Suffice to say, I hope 2023 is better than right now.
I just made President’s List for the Spring semester, so that’s exciting. I’m assuming you’ve made it every subsequent semester as well. Right now, my cumulative GPA is a 3.97. I hope yours is higher. You’ve totally been accepted into grad school at William & Mary and UVA by now, right? What about Harvard? Dartmouth? I’m sure you’re more than pleased with your LSAT and GRE scores. Perfect scores, perhaps?
I hope you were able to make it to Yellowstone on that Brock Experience at some point. I was absolutely devastated when that got cancelled this year. Spent half my time in quarantine reading about wolves. How cool was it to see that in person? Did you make it to England? Study abroad at Plymouth? Derby? I hope so. You deserved that. And you were totally the best Honors Mentor that ever graced Longwood University’s Cormier Honors College. No doubt about that one. You were born for that.
I just want you to know that it was all worth it. All of those long nights you spent reading for Dr. Isaac’s seemingly impossible ancient history class, dreading a pop quiz the next day. All of the times you locked yourself in a quiet room at the library until 2 a.m. to finish a paper. All of the early morning panicking before finals you ended up getting all A’s on. All of it was worth it. Because looking back at it all, you know that you wouldn’t be walking across Wheeler Lawn, shaking President Reveley’s hand, and clenching that diploma to your chest while Mom and Dad and Emily and Jud and Jax shout from their seats, clapping and crying and smiling, if you hadn’t powered through every last bit of it all. Because you are amazing. You have the power to do great things, to study great things, and to learn great things. Don’t squander that, and don’t stop until you sign everything as “Dr. Farmer”.
I absolutely hope you feel fulfilled knowing that your undergraduate journey was well-spent at Longwood, and of course I hope that you’re looking forward to grad school and the countless academic pursuits you have yet to experience. But above all, I hope you are happy. Because that’s why you came to Longwood in the first place.
I believe in you. Now go and change the world.