Senior me,

At the time i’m writing this I have just finished my first year of college, and have taken my first few steps to achieving a degree. Like all journeys there have been high and low points, from having a professor that I couldn’t stand, or a bad roommate, to meeting new friends and discovering more about myself. While I have no shortage of ideas of what I want to do in the future, I currently have yet to decide which one, if any of them, is the right fit for me. Should I become a doctor and dedicate myself to helping others? Or perhaps there are people in developing countries who are in greater need of help, in which case the Peace Corps is undoubtedly a better fit. But maybe instead of a life dedicated to service, I should devote myself to scholarship, and teach english in a foreign country, thereby spreading a love scholarship to the world, while also more about a foreign land than I ever could from a textbook. I don’t have the answers to any of these questions, but hopefully at this point you have found an answer that you believe you is right.

While the future may feel like an ever looming shadow over you as you prepare to make your start in the real world, it is important to take the time to remember what you’ve accomplished to get to this point. You’ve taken what now seems like a relentlessly huge number of classes many of which were very difficult. You had to struggle to pass them, putting hours and hours of studying in. You’ve gone on many memorable adventures and have even spent a whole semester living in foreign country. You’ve meet people that I have yet to even know exist, who have had large impacts on your life.

So as this chapter of your life begins to close, and as you prepare to start the rest of your life, take a moment or two to reflect not just what you’ve accomplished, but also where you came from, and everything that you’ve held dear in the past years. Consider what it is that has inspired or motivated you, and keep that in your mind as you move forward, after all, there are bound to be tough times in the future, and returning to what motivated you in the first place can serve as beacon of hope.

My last piece of advice for you is to keep in mind who it is that you want to be, and to stay true to that image. To be compassionate, to think of others first, to keep a positive attitude whenever possible, and to never take for granted what you’ve been given.

Good luck. Sincerely, your past self.