Dear Sydney,

I don’t know how to feel about a lot of this, if I’m being honest. I spent thirteen years in public school, thinking that I would be stuck there forever. And yet, here I am, a college student, every day seeming to zoom by faster than the next. Graduation feels so far for me, yet for you, it’s right around the corner. Are you scared? Excited? Proud? Or maybe you’re feeling that weird mix of emotions that doesn’t really have a word that can fully describe it. I wonder how different, or even similar, college graduation will be from high school graduation.

Now, where to begin? I started out with a major in communications sciences and disorders, however I was only really doing it for the ASL aspect, and quickly realized this was not the right major for me. When switching, my advisor, professors, friends, everyone were very surprised to hear that I wanted to do math. It’s kind of funny to think about how thrown off guard everyone was. Despite how much of a change it seemed like it was, it was actually very simple, and I was so relieved to be back in calculus after an entire semester without any math to speak of. Hopefully, I made the right choice, and you continue to excel in math and have found a clear path to take with this major.

I feel like a completely different person than I was in high school, at least in the beginning of it. Instead of that shy, anxious girl that avoided bringing attention to herself as much as possible, I’m now much more confident and optimistic. I’ll talk more with people I barely know and try to express a more upbeat and inviting attitude. Even my academics have improved. Instead of shrugging off missing assignments or stressing that I’m not good enough for the class, I have worked to improve my work ethic and study harder. I hope that, now that three years have gone by for you, you’ve continued to improve in these aspects and have complete confidence in yourself and your abilities.

With the aforementioned new confidence, I have been able to make many new friends during freshman year. The main friend group is one that I feel will last long after college; Ariel Birkholz, Ashley Foster, Jamila Kent, and Sam Perry. I met Ariel and Jamila at orientation, and kept running into them throughout the semester. Ashley became friends with them, and it just took off from there. We’d hang out by the pool table in Upchurch, where we met Sam, and every day we would play either pool, uno, Apples to Apples, or whatever game we were in the mood for. Ariel and I kind of made a daily habit of meeting up, then going directly to Starbucks. Ariel is definitely the best friend I’ve made at college. We’re basically like sisters, and hang out whenever we can. Never forget, senior Sydney, that she was there at our terrible car crash, and did everything she could to help us out. I’ll be living with Jamila and Ashley next year at Lancer Park, and I’m excited to see how that will be.

You’re going to be the first of all your parent’s four children to graduate college. It’s crazy to think that, by the time I’m your age, Bradley will be halfway through college, Jason will be a freshman in high school, and Dustin will be just starting middle school. As the oldest sibling, you know that you have to be a good role model for them. I hope you have taken this fact to heart, and do your best to inspire each of our brothers. Of course, you’re not responsible for whatever decisions they end up making, but the least you can do is demonstrate to them how to make the best decisions for themselves. And I know you know how, for I myself have 17 years of experience with at least one brother.

To close out, I hope you never get discouraged from doing anything you want to do. If you want to keep writing, keep writing. If you want to learn instruments on the side, do it. Your main career may be something in mathematics, since you majored in it, but you are not defined by it. Do whatever makes you happy (and can afford). I hope you only continue to become even more optimistic as time goes on, and continue doing what you love most.