Dear younger me,
During your current time, I know you are having difficulty speaking, writing, and comprehending English. I know this is a significant obstacle in your life right now just moving from Mexico and I want to tell you that you will get through this by working hard and not giving up. All through kindergarten you’ll get help from your lovely teacher named Ms. Tobiason. She always tried her best to translate homework and assignments because you were not able to read them. Your parents have also been through all your struggles, they have both tried their best to help you be prepared for kindergarten even though you were a little frantic because of not knowing English. I am proud of myself if I knew what you would accomplish in less than a year, to get in trouble for talking in class when you weren’t supposed to! So don’t give up and keep pushing forward.
What is the reason why your future self is writing this letter to you? You would not believe it, you have come a long way. You have finished elementary school and middle school at the same school you are right now. 9 long years in that school! You have made a lot of friendships and have of course improved your English, A month ago you graduated from STEM Magnet Academy and are now going to High School. You were awarded a scholarship called Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund (DMSF) through your hard work in multiple 500-word essays like this one, multiple interviews, and recommendation letters from your middle school teachers. I know it is hard for you to believe this because of what you are going through right now but this happens. This scholarship accepted you, you’ll participate in a summer camp for all freshmen This is where you will be given a choice to write a letter to your younger self or a different topic. I chose this topic because I wanted to tell you about all the achievements you have made. Ms. Zanolli who is a very friendly and nice teacher is also your writing teacher who will help you write this letter. Some advice your future self would give you or me is to not procrastinate your assignments! This is very important and you will understand when you grow up. The higher the grade, the more assignments and homework you will receive which will work for “YOU” to finish on time. Procrastinating means waiting or delaying yourself from doing something which can be anything. How did you accomplish everything? You accomplished your goals by working hard and being precise with your time. You always were precise with your time and wanted to have everything done one time. No matter how discouraged you were, working hard and practicing for a long time every day helped you achieve your goal and lead you to where you are now today.
This is my piece of advice because the older you get you will be going to sleep very late if you leave assignments to the end. If you understand what I told you in this letter, you will comprehend English in a surprisingly short period which I am very proud of. Another piece of information that you should have taken from this writing is to not procrastinate. Procrastination is the last thing a person would want to do. Do your best throughout your years, I hope this helps you for your adventure ahead, and good luck.
Sincerely, Raul Hernandez
Raul Hernandez – Chicago Hope Academy – DMSF Class of 2027
Photo by Greg Rosenke on Unsplash