Dear future Madison,
Today, on August 10, 2020, I am writing this letter to myself to help me better understand where I am now as a fourteen-year-old, understand how I see the world, and also work towards my hopes for my future self.
Currently I am going into freshman year at Glenbrook South High School. I am grateful to be a mentally and physically strong fourteen-year-old. Thanks to these qualities, I work hard at the goals I want to achieve in my life. One goal I have is to always be caring to others. I believe it is important to be a caring family member and friend, and I am passionate about helping others. One of my strengths is getting along with other people of all ages. I always make an effort to make people feel welcomed and important. I hope my future self will always remember that people are important.
Another way I try to live my life is to use my strong morals to guide my decisions. One of my morals I think is very important is to treat others how I would like to be treated with respect and honesty. I hope that my future self does not forget that moral because it creates shared bond between me and the people around me.
Working hard to get to where I want to be in life is also important to me. Nothing is handed to you in life. This is why I appreciate my family and their effort to help me with opportunities to go to a good school, and the chance to caddie and learn communication skills and how to budget money. I also try to apply this goal to my sports. My goal is to play basketball in college. I work hard to maintain a growth mindset. This means, I make an effort to constantly be improving my academics and basketball skills even when I am discouraged and challenged.
Some accomplishments I am proud of are being a team member on multiple basketball leagues. Learning to play with many different people at different levels has been a good lesson. I have had really good moments on the court and some really difficult moments. For example, sometimes I needed to stay positive when I did not agree with the referees’ calls, and other times I needed to help the team with staying positive and to keep playing our game. Some important lessons that life has taught me are to not give up easily, and to get back up after you are knocked down. I hope my future self remembers this when I am challenged.
Some areas I would like to improve in and have a growth mindset are staying motivated with difficult tasks. For example, I had a reading test coming up that I was studying for, and I could not help but feel anxious about how I would do on the test. Something that motivates me is always keeping my goal at the front of my mind. So, I kept thinking about my goal to get at least an 80% on this reading test. In the end, my hard work paid off, and I maintained my goal. Something my future self would want to remember about my present self is that nothing is too hard as long as a I put the work into whatever task I am trying to accomplish.
Currently, I see the world as a neutral place. That being said, there are some good things in this world and some bad things. I think there are opportunities presented to you, and it is really up to the individual whether or not they take advantage of those opportunities. I think there are many challenges, of all different kinds, that people face in this world. One challenge I think I have to face is dealing with money. I think that it can be hard to earn money and also to balance money. There are many expenses in life that can be costly and also are basic needs, such providing food and shelter for oneself. It is also costly to get a good education. It will be a challenge for me because I am currently working on my ability to balance finances, which will come with time and experience. I view the past as a learning experience. I do not believe in regrets. I will do my best in the future to be smart with my money to give myself the best opportunities possible.
In the future, I am curious about many things. Currently, I would like to be a physician one day. However, I am curious as to whether that will change or not for me. No matter what my profession is, I hope that I can work hard and love what I do regardless of where my hard work in school and in life gets me. I am also curious about about challenges to come. I know the future is unpredictable and I will have adapt to new situations in my life. I hope my future self remembers to take one step at a time and have short term goals that eventually reach my long term goals. I would hope that my future self has applied, enrolled and passed medical school. I understand it will be a challenge, but worth the hard work. Specifically, I would like to own my own medical practice one day. I would like to work to the point where I am basically my own boss and I have the opportunity to be a leader in the medical world.
Something I hope for my future self is that I make the most of every opportunity that is provided to me in my academics, my basketball skills, and my growth as a responsible citizen. After this past week, there are two things that will contribute to my future self’s success: my practice of a growth mindset and my speech goals. My speech goals will help my future self because I will have created a platform of solid communication skills. I will have found success with my speech goals that I made for myself with how I communicate with other people and present myself to a group. I learned how to speak clearly, with intonation, and without filler words. My growth mindset will help my future self in all aspects of my life, such as being a team member, a family member, a student, and a person. The concept of always having room for improvement is important and a life skill I should maintain through my life.
Love,
Madison Luckey – Glenbrook South High School – GVC Reach Back
Photo by Dan DeAlmeida on Unsplash