To My Senior Self,

Hey Katelyn, I know graduation is coming up and you’re probably starting to get stressed about finals, but just take a minute to take a deep breath and remember how far you’ve come, how much you’ve accomplished. You have worked so incredibly hard to get to where you are right now, I know this because you would never let yourself do any less 🙂 I don’t want you to worry about the future either. Whether it’s certain or uncertain, or if you decided to follow present me’s dream of attending graduate school at one of the top business schools and then pursue a career in marketing or not, you will still be able to achieve whatever your dreams may be because you always work your hardest. I hope you are still at the top of your class, making the President’s List, and you better not have lost your 4.0! But if you did, that’s ok because you did everything that you could, and your life will still go on.

Don’t forget to take time to enjoy the little things in life. I hope you’ve become even more involved in Delta Sigma Pi than I am now and have met people through the fraternity who can help you get your dream job. I also hope you have become more involved on campus, gotten elected for a position on the College of Business and Economics’ Student Advisory Board, and done at least one thing to leave a lasting impact on campus. If you haven’t yet, take the time to do so. Longwood has given you so much and has become so much like a big family for me in just my first year here.

As you continue on with whatever endeavor it might be that you are pursuing, never forget the core pillars that have been instilled in you here at Longwood and carry Scholarship, Service, and Community wherever you go. Keep working hard in graduate school if that’s where you are headed and continue to push yourself to earn as many A’s as you can. If you’re headed into the workforce, Scholarship can apply there as well. You will still be learning a new company and about the industry in general, so push yourself to take in all that you can. Try to do acts of Service any chance the opportunity presents itself. Helping others and making the world a better place is what you have always wanted to do with your life, so help everyone you can no matter how small the gesture. And finally, Community, which will always be important. Your Community is what keeps you afloat and supports you during the rough times because they want to see you succeed. Stay active in every community you are apart of, and never leave the Community you made at Longwood behind. Your Community is made up of the people who helped you get here, never stop loving and supporting them in turn.

And perhaps most importantly, remember to love yourself. To take a step back once in a while and forgive yourself for any mistakes or wrong turns that you make. You are the one and only person you are stuck with every day for the rest of your life, so treat yourself like a queen. Be frustrated when it’s needed, but never hate yourself. That is the worst thing that anyone can do, always stay strong, I know you can do it 🙂

See you soon,

Present day Katelyn