Dear younger me,
Hey young fellow, it’s your future self. I would like to give you some advice. Now I know what you’re thinking. How would I give any advice? I know you better than anybody in this world because I am you. Don’t hangout with the wrong people just because you want to be cool or noticed. You are an intelligent, kind, and gentle soul. Don’t let that change just because you want to impress people. Mom always said “it doesn’t matter what people think about you as long as you’re being yourself”. Not everybody you call a friend is actually your friend so you better be careful who you think is your friend. Don’t come home upset because your “friends” said no to working with us or whenever you went on a field trip and they did not include you in their group. You deserve to be happy with better friends and I don’t want to spoil your future but you will meet them.
Around fifth grade you are still hanging out with the same people who don’t have respect for you and don’t treat you right but you don’t really notice that, until…… The middle of fifth grade where you will be highly embarrassed because your friends pranked you because you didn’t know what cancer was. There were times that I thought about hanging out with other people and that was one of the best decisions of my life because leaving this friend group also made me lose a part of myself that day. I lost the part of hatred and loneliness. So let’s fast forward to sixth grade and now you are starting fresh and you are a better version of yourself. You are still in the same school but that doesn’t matter because overtime you will learn that putting your past as-side will help you a lot to become the best version of yourself. During sixth grade you will meet so many new people that have respect for you and actually treat you well but a horrible world killing pandemic will begin. This makes life so much harder. Now that you have all these friends, how will you keep in contact? Well that’s when you discover an app that allows you to keep in touch with everyone and it helps you to keep positive friendships. Keeping in touch with your friends will for sure help you bond even more with them and you guys will become closer.
I know everything I have told you doesn’t sound that interesting but trust me use this advice for this is a warning for whom you hangout with. Never forget that you are your own person and never change yourself for anyone to always be the best version of yourself. Anyone who wants to talk to you is lucky to be friends with you. Remember to not always call everyone your friend. You can always be on good terms with someone but never let those people take advantage of you. Remember that the friends you have now are not always going to be with you. It’s normal. That is just life. Continue to make good choices and never give up. It will really pay off on all of your wonderful accomplishments!
Your future self,
Eric Gallardo – De La Salle Institute – DMSF Class of 2026
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