In honor of my 22nd birthday being just 2 days away (lots of 2’s… my favorite number), I wanted to share a letter to myself that I wrote while in a weird spot during quarantine. I really wanted to reflect on the last year and all it gave to me.
Hey Meg, let’s talk.
This next year is going to be monumental for you. It is going to be the time of so much growth for you. I promise you that who you are now is not who you will be in just a few weeks. Then every day after that, you’ll change again. Growing pains come along with that, but it’s nothing you can’t handle.
This is harsh, but the people in your life now will not be as important to you as they are now. You guys will all be transforming into new people and a couple friendships will be outgrown. That’s ok though. You’ll survive. You’re going to get your heart broken big time, then a few more times spiradically. But I promise you that every person who breaks your heart isn’t worth the dirt under your shoes. And their behavior isn’t your fault either. They’ve got their own problems to work through. Also, try not to hate them. It’s not worth it and honestly, it’s draining.
But guess what! All of this pain and change is leading up to something spectacular! You’re going to be so much happier.
You’re going to fall in love with someone who is bigger than the universe in your eyes. He’ll become your best friend, your lover, your medicine. You’ll feel so safe with him and never have to question him or his intentions. They’ll say to take things slow after you’ve gotten your heart broken so many times, but don’t listen to them. Dive right in. It’s ok. He’s one of the good ones. You’re going to trust him with your deepest secrets… ones only you know. He’ll be so far from anyone you’ve ever dated. He’s not your normal type at all. But that’s good. I mean, how well has your type worked out for you so far? Exactly. Don’t be afraid of what society says about time in relationships. Fall hard and fast. He’s there to catch you.
School will be interesting this year. You’ll go boy crazy fall semester and not pay as much attention to classes as you should. And you’ll hate yourself for it. Your grades won’t be the best, but they won’t be awful because at the last second you’ll get your shit together… like usual. Spring semester will get a little complicated though. You’ll ride most of the semester out and kick ass even though you’ll hate 50% of your classes. You’ll drop one class after a couple weeks because that professor is a shit stain (don’t even excuse my language) and you’ll be mad at yourself for giving up. Don’t be. It was the best decision you could have made under the circumstances. You’ll get back into the swing of school finally. You typically have one off-semester and then come back swinging for the second anyway. This semester won’t end like normal. You’ll leave for spring break and not come back. COVID-19 will show its ugly face and mess everything up. It’ll become a pandemic and nobody will know what is going on. A health concern that effects everyone will become a political issue for some reason, and you’ll want to hit a lot of people in the head with a 2×4 for it. Everyone will downplay its impact, but it’s going to kill a lot of people. You’ll expect it to go away in a couple weeks but it’ll stick around for much, much longer. You’ll finish your spring semester online, but that’ll be the best thing to happen to you because you’ll get more time to focus on your studies. You’ll end the semester with a 3.85 GPA. Yeah, it’s not a 4.0 and that’s because you kind of slacked off at the beginning of the semester, but that’s ok. You kicked ass. You might even make it into that honor society like you want so badly!
This year can only be as good as you make it. It’ll test your patience and sanity, but if you keep looking at the bright side, there’s nothing you can’t do.
