Hey future me!
It is post-freshman year Madison here writing to you. First off, congratulations! I hope you are reading this as a graduate, cringing at this letter right now. But most of all, I hope that you are happy. I have no idea where you ended up with your major, life goals, or hobbies, but whatever they might be the main thing that matters is that those things bring you joy.
With that being said, I hope that you can look back at your four years at Longwood with a smile because of the amazing honors community. I know that even though freshman year was kinda hard in a lot of ways, you still had your honors community to cheer you up and support you. My favorite part of the community so far was the freshman year retreat so hopefully you gave back to that at some point by volunteering to help run it. I was just looking back on pictures from it and it was like the most exhausting summer camp but on steroids.
For the service pillar of the Cormier Honors College, I hope that you have found fulfillment. For freshman year my main volunteer focus was on the ICE center, I wonder if you continued with that and what other interests you picked up along the way. My sense of fulfilment comes from serving people and making them happy so I am sure there are so many opportunities that will create those benefits to both parties. Whatever organization you may be a part of, stick with it.
Finally, the last pillar for the honors college is scholarship. Freshman year has already had me partake in the research fair so I am scared yet excited for what lies ahead. I say this because while that research was incredibly interesting and worthwhile, it was most definitely very hard! I hope that you continue to challenge yourself intellectually in new ways everyday. Challenge yourself to think like Dr. Thomas Nez, Dr. Rene Guitiérrez, or Dr. Erin Waggoner did. These are a few of the role models and mentors I have developed this far and I know you will create so many more. Push yourself everyday and never forget the people who have gotten you this far.
As of right now, I am extremely interested in travel nursing, transcultural nursing, women’s health, community health, and working on the US-Mexico border. A long list of extremely broad topics- I know. I have never been able to settle on one interest because I am interested in so many things. I fully expect my interests to change in just a few months even. This is what is so exciting though. It is so important to keep yourself excited at just the thought of trying new things. Have high job satisfaction, have a high life satisfaction, and have a high quality of life for yourself. I know you are going to change your mind every two seconds and have doubts, and that is okay. Just go with it. My only goals for you are that you are happy with your life and yourself, and that you have a high sense of self respect. Do what makes you happy.
Love,
Freshman Madison