Dear Freshman Emily,

I know you have always striven to live your life with no regrets, but what the heck were you thinking?

The next four years are going to be rough, but you will get through it and in the end it will all be worth it.

Going into freshman year you have high hopes for making new friends at a new school and that you sure will, just don’t forget to worry about your grades.

You’re going to have low points and they’re going to be hard. But you’re going to be OK, so you just need to push through.

Instead of letting the drama consume your attention, make learning a priority. I promise that your high school relationship isn’t worth the stress of letting your grades fail.

Freshman year will most likely be an easy year, but you need to prepare yourself for the upcoming years.

Everything you’re learning now is going to tie into stuff farther down the road, so if you don’t actually learn what you’re supposed to, you’re going to regret it.

Participate in things that you feel like you might want to, get out of your comfort zone, and just don’t be afraid to try new things. But, above everything, school comes first.

One of the worst things you can get involved with in high school is procrastination. You thought I was going to say alcohol or drugs, but no, procrastination is actually the worst thing you can do.

Once you realize how easy it is to get away with procrastinating, you’re in for a lot of stress.

High school isn’t hard, but keeping your focus on high school can be challenging sometimes.

Again, keep your head in the game and push through all the nonsense of drama and what other people think.

All of this might sound really scary at first, but all you really need to remember is that by the time you’re a senior you will sort of have your life together and all of this figured out.

Love, your future self.

Dear future Haley,

When I am a senior I want to be a person that others look up to or go to when they need advice or just a shoulder to cry on.

I really would like to be different. I want to look different, I want to be a new person … a better person.

I would like to have lived my childhood to the fullest because you’re only a child once. I want to help people with their daily struggles and make them realize how important they are to so many people.

By senior year, I want to have taken all the classes that will help me with my dream job. I want to be a homicide detective like Joe Kenda.

Being a homicide detective would be awesome because I can solve people’s murders and help their stories be told. I can help their families be a little more at ease knowing that the person that took their family member’s life is going to pay the price.

I would like to be the person to change our generation, because our generation is full of really childish people whom I wish would just stop acting so immature.

It may seem harsh, but it’s true.

The thing with our generation is that many people don’t understand common sense. They just believe whatever they see or  hear, and they believe it without finding out if it’s true or not.

By senior year, I hope that you would have at least went to one high school party. I want to go to a party that’s like the ones in the movies because they seem really cool.

I also would like to bring my GPA up from a 2.5 to at least a 2.8.

I have many dreams and aspirations and I hope you were able to accomplish them. All I have to do is stay true to myself, be the best that I can be, and then maybe one day I can become a respectable human being in society.

Sincerely, Haley