Dear future Katie,

As you are writing this you aren’t really sure what to tell yourself to remember about this year, but in short, it was the best freshman year you could have hoped for. More happened than you thought you were prepared for when you were a high schooler about to start college, but you managed to work through everything that life threw at you while still having fun. Your freshman self can’t even imagine the day you will walk across the stage, but I feel like it will fly by because this year did.

This year you were pushed outside of your comfort zone, but every time it forced you to grow just a little bit. During the first semester you applied for a study abroad and only a few short months before that you were convinced that was not going to happen until junior year. Later that semester you got accepted on that study abroad, and I’m sure you can imagine Mom and Dad’s surprise that you were going to Croatia after your first year. During the second semester you were elected HSA President, and that one scared you at first. You were not entirely sure you were ready, but one of your adopted mentors (and dear friend) Madison Lewis promised to help you every step of the way. She helped you plan your first meeting and everything went great. Carly Carter was your mentor, and she was a blessing to you because you were scared out of your mind literally crying when she came over and became your first friend in college.

You should be proud of your freshman self because she really pushed herself to get out there and find something to be a part of even when she wanted to hide in her dorm. Honors and BCM have been my two families. Honors let me know I was loved by them from day one, and BCM has become a second home. You met your roomates for your sophomore year at BCM, and I still am not OK with the fact that they are graduating, but I hope you have stayed in touch with them because they are some of your best friends right now.

I know you are having mixed feelings about your senior year because on one hand you are excited to start a job and a life in the real world (or grad school which I am hoping is the route we took). On another hand I love Longwood and it has only been a year, so I can only imagine what the feeling you have after another 2 years must be. It will be hard to move on from. I imagine the last honors retreat when you will stand up in front of your family at honors and tell everyone about your time. I remember wanting to cry even though I did not know any of these people yet. I imagine a little freshman just like you were sitting in Ruffner and thinking “wow, This is a family.”

Well your freshman self only sort of made it through this letter without crying. It is really hard to think of a time that I won’t be coming back to Longwood. I know you are about to go through a lot of change in your life, but remember all of the things you learned while you were at school (I probably don’t know most of them yet). Keep in touch with your friends, and teach other people about the love that comes from Longwood. I hope you have been taking a lot of pictures to look back and smile about when all of this becomes a memory. I believe in you senior self and I know that we can do anything we really put our mind to. Just remember the advice mom gives “do it afraid” and like Dr. Miskec told you when you’re out of your comfort zone just yell “I’m growing!” Never stop growing.

With all the love in the world end of freshman year Katie