Signing Off

 I thought a long time about how to write this post - because making a list obviously wasn’t going to get me to the word count – when I got a little inspiration from my freshman year letter to my current self. I thought, if my past self can write a letter for my current self, then surely my current self can write a letter to my past self. So that’s what this post ended up being – a letter from senior Sneha to freshman Sneha with all the advice I wish someone would have given me instead of being forced to learn it myself.

 

Hey little me,

I still remember how excited you were about high school, to grow up, especially after all those years confined into your room from COVID. As ready as you are, I’m going to let you in on a secret - when someone asked me what my biggest regret was in the past four years, I never expected my answer to be “growing up”, and yet here I am, praying high school doesn’t end. Looking back, would I do it again? NO, absolutely not, but have I learned lessons that I’ll keep forever – yes. Some were easy and others not so much, which is why I’ll leave them here for you and if, one day, someone invents a time machine, I’ll probably send it to you.

The easiest lesson I’ve learned after all these years – your grades don’t define you. Oh god, if I could just go back to my freshman year and say anything to you, it would be this. I think there is so much stereotype about having perfect grades and that you’re only successful if you get that 4.0 unweighted, especially at a school as competitive as Troy High. Realistically speaking, it was never that big of a deal. One little B in a class isn’t something that has the ability to determine the rest of your life – and by the time you get to your senior year, you’ll forget which class you even got that grade it. Instead of trying to study so much for perfect A’s, go hang out with your friends and do something that you like. Explore your hobbies. Don’t stay confined to the AP chemistry textbook because I promise Zumdahl can wait for a couple hours.

And while on the topic of studying, don’t procrastinate and learn to manage your schedule (the current me has a major problem with this) because it never ends well when you have 20 assignments due on the same day. If a teacher gives you a week to finish an assignment, trust me, it’s for a reason, so learn to prioritize all your assignments and set them up in a manageable way so that you’re not stressed out and panicking about not having “enough hours in a day to finish everything” (and yes, this becomes one of your favorite lines to use). I’ll give you a sneak peek into the future – your procrastination will end with you not sleeping for a solid 2 days trying to finish and edit your seminar research paper while constantly drinking coffee and energy drinks to get through the school day - but at least you manage to get a good score, so yay, I guess?

Since we’re already talking about it, I guess my next bit of advice for you is to GO TO SLEEP. I understand that you have a lot of work to do, but honestly, you don’t have to sacrifice your sleep and health to do it. I don’t know if you realize it yet, but the less you take care of yourself, the more likely you are to get sick and then you’ll end up with even more missing assignments to do anyway – so don’t stress about turning in some assignments late in leu of getting a good night’s rest. And hey, if you refuse to turn in any assignments late, then you can always wake up early to finish your work.

At this point, I think I’ll stop judging your (my) terrible study habits and talk to you about something that’s a lot more tough to swallow. You’re going to make a lot of new friends and you’re going to lose a lot too. Remember all those promises you made in middle school to stay in touch? Especially with your (now ex) best friend? Yeah, those aren’t going last, but I promise, you come out better for it. You’re going to learn the hard way that some friends aren’t meant to stay with you. You’re also going to find two crazy people who will become you’re favorite thing about high school and the reason you even bother coming to school (besides the fact that you have classes and things to learn, of course). They’ll see you on your good days and your bad ones and they’ll stay anyway so hold on tight to them because I know I won’t trade anything for them.

I’ll end this ridiculously long letter with one last thing – enjoy it. Every. Single. Moment. You don’t know it yet, but you’ll miss everything about this school and these people. From crying over your grades in your math teacher’s midterm zoom call to sneaking out of class to hang out with your friends in the hallways, from screaming in chemistry over titrations to being annoyed at having to deal with playing assignments because ONE person didn’t practice for the concert. Everything that happens in the next four years will shape who you are as a person so just let it happen and live in the moment without worrying about what will happen in the future – leave that to me. If things get hard, rely on the people around you and don’t forget to trust in yourself. Explore things, do clubs, go out more. These are YOUR precious years so do everything, not because it’ll be useful for college but because YOU want to. I’m so proud of the person you are, but I’m also proud of the person you’re going to become – so keep going and trust me when I tell you that this is just the beginning of all your dreams and passions.

 

                                                                                     Good Luck little me! I’ll see you on the other side.

                                                                                                                                               ~Future Sneha

PS. Actually put your Zumdahl away because you don’t even bother studying it – it’s not like staring at the questions is going to make the chemistry stick into your brain.