Dear Younger Me, I’m sorry…I’m sorry I didn’t understand how to love and be myself so I could spare you the trouble of being bullied in 6th grade. I’m writing to talk to you about a few things like how we’re doing now and advice you really need at the moment. In case you are still wondering if we’ll be okay after all this, yes we are. We got ourselves back together and we became Valedictorian.
I want you to understand that changing your special and individual personality to fit in with a more “popular” demographic is one of the worst things you could or could’ve ever done to yourself and I know you think you don’t do it but you do it all the time and it’s not healthy for your mental health. You people please so much but you’re not pleasing yourself and even worse you’re getting in trouble for committing acts you know you shouldn’t be doing and you’re making yourself miserable because you know it’s wrong but you continue to change all the beautifully wondrous things about you to fit in with people who make you dim your own light . In general I just wanna stay true to yourself because once you learn to love and accept yourself for who you really are the right people will come to you. Always remember, you can either be a diamond or be a cubic zirconium. I rather you’d remain a diamond.
I understand getting bullied by girls who were supposed to remain your friends hurt a lot and them getting the whole class to bully you as well was even harder. I know it was hard losing yourself because you felt like the whole world was against you. It was so hard you wanted to give up but don’t give up! It’ll be hard for a few months but just sit down and talk to mom since those two weeks of bullying have been annoying because she asks what’s wrong anyway and I promise you that conversation with mama will change your life. You tell her about the bullying and suddenly a huge weight is lifted off your shoulders because you used to feel like you couldn’t talk to anyone now you have someone to talk to. It’ll help you so much. You take care of yourself more and you pull it together that you don’t even care if they talk about you or not.
I know reading this you think or don’t realize what you’re doing is harmful but it is not only to you but your future. By changing and pleasing people all the time you will lose yourself and if you don’t stop you’ll miss out on having fun, meeting your current best friends, and getting opportunities like getting two scholarships to attend private school all because you want to focus on other people. Some advice I want to give you is find a group of friends you feel safe and can be yourself around, look in the mirror everyday and tell yourself how amazing you are, take care of yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally, stay on track and leave the drama where it is I know it’s hard to forget but just let go.
I really want you to lock in and focus especially in 6th grade because when you join Model UN if you haven’t already you’ll be seeing your future high school for a practice meeting. 7th grade is also really important because you’ll hear about different high schools to apply to and don’t worry about being rejected because (spoiler alert! You’re going to private school) and you’re going to do great. I know the bullying situation at school is hard especially since you feel like the whole class is against you and I know they are but I want you to follow your instinct and transfer homerooms because the new one will be better for you to learn in. I understand you have one true friend at the moment but honestly she’s not worth the trouble of defending so please focus on your and make better friend choices. We’ve accomplished great things and we will continue to do so, so don’t give up, keep pushing, and love yourself.
Much love always
Love, Future You
India Williams – Saint Ignatius College Prep – DMSF Class of 2029
Photo Credit: lobro – Adobe Stock