Young Writers Society

Context: Just a Stereotypical Teenager

Dear Dan,

Thank you for taking the time to write this letter. I read through the entirety of your letter and though it was a bit overly dramatic at times, I have come from the future to tell you one thing:

Everything will be alright.

I will not trivialize the stress you felt at the time, the pressure you said was crushing you. I will not say it was simply teenage angst. Instead I will say that perspective plays a huge part in your life and when you're young, there's little for you to compare to. So when you feel like the world is ending, it's because to you, it is. That exact moment is the worst you've ever felt in your life.

But again, everything will be alright.

Life never proceeds the way you think it will. Try as you might to predict the future, but the only thing you can count on is that the future is uncertain.

You never went to an Ivy League as you predicted. In fact, you failed to get into any of them. You cried for days and days. Everything you had worked towards for the last eighteen years, all the extra curricular activities you did, all the jobs you took on, all the activism you did, suddenly worthless. And to make matters worse, the middle tier schools you did get into, you came to the sinking realization that you couldn't afford any of them.

You ended up going to a state school. And though you thought it was beneath you at the time, it's only now that you can appreciate one of the best decisions you could have ever made. Those AP classes you dreaded going into Junior and Senior year of high school? They allowed you skip entire semesters worth of classes, letting you move at a more relaxed as your peers struggled to transition from high school to college. You met new people, tried things you said you would never try, and further developed some of the friendships you had in high school.

People will ask if you ever regretted not doing more in college and if you could ever do it again, would you? To that you'll say no. You have no regrets from college and thoroughly cherish the memories you created.

That isn't to say college wasn't difficult. There will be days when it seems like it can't get any worse and then your professor drops another assignment onto your plate. There will be days when you have 4 tests on the same day. There will be people you don't like, friendships that don't work out, fights. College, much like the rest of life, has its ups and downs. Regardless of their outcomes though, each of those experiences helped to shape you as a person.

Because, you see Dan, those eighteen years you spent trying to get into an Ivy League were not wasted. Each of those experiences were an experience unique to you and when you combine them, they form a one of a kind personality. You.

Do not for a second think that because you are unique though, that you are special, that you are suddenly entitled to a greater destiny. You are but one human on a planet populated by seven billion and in the grand scheme of things, you are an insignificant speck.

Disheartening as that may seem, it actually isn't because to me, that feeling is liberating. If you are an insignificant speck, then your actions too are just tiny blips in the timeline of the universe. You do not have to change the world, Dan. You are free to do whatever it is your heart so desires. It is okay to concentrate on your hobbies and passions. You do not need anyone else's permission. Your life is yours and don't let anyone tell you otherwise, not even society.

Speaking of society, struggle as you might, it isn't going anywhere. Yes, there are times when you must rebel, when you should stand up for what you believe in, but pick your fights wisely. You only have so much time and energy and you'll be surprised where the flow of society can sometimes take you. You don't have to resist every little thing.

So Dan, take a deep breath. You don't have to be mad or stressed all the time. If you focus on what you can do at the time, you'll get through it all. Trust me, everything will be alright.

Sincerely,
Future You

Final Note:

In recent years, I've had a lot more time to think. I can thank my hour long commute to work for that. But one of the things I most often think about is, have I changed? Have I matured? Am I an adult? I still don't know the answer to that question, but writing this has helped me come to terms a bit more with maturity because back then, as much as everyone called my mature, I was not. I was only pretending to be mature.