(Reflection portions are in Bold)

“Dear Emma Grace,

I hope you are happy and always remember to be bold.” 

Being bold has always been a goal of mine. There are millions of people on this planet and what is the point of blending in? Being bold allows you to grow into your own person completely and I hope I continue to constantly grow after my senior year.

“Throughout your years a Longwood you learned a lot through classes, but the most important things you learned outside of them.  Being yourself, personal growth, and not allowing other people’s negative opinions stop you from doing what you love.  I hope you’ve kept these among the thousands of other things in mind as you’ve left Longwood and transitioned into the “real world”.”   

Along with a love for personal growth overall, I never want to stop learning. Beyond what I learn through classes and exams, I think the college experience teaches you tons of life skills through your time there. I hope that after I graduate, I continue on the path of forever learning by taking online courses (on places like SkillShare) or even through personal experiences in my workplace.        

“What you are doing doesn’t really matter as long as you are making the most of the time you have with the people you love, and still, after years I think this is true.” 

Life is so, so, so, short. Why waste it sweating on the small stuff? Rather than setting these goals of “I hope you have the most amazing job with a stable income and 2.5 kids”, I would rather focus on spending my time how I feel it is important at that moment, most likely full of the people I love most (after COVID-19, of course).