Hey you.
It's 11 PM on a Thursday night. You're probably at the fifth floor of the Reg, buried in some econometrics book, holding back the panic that's rising in your throat because it's been three hours and thirty games of Robot Unicorn Attack and you still can't seem to come to terms with the ordinary least squares method that you'll be tested on tomorrow morning. Then there's that upcoming Mock Trial tournament this weekend and you cannot recite your opening without stopping midway to want to throw up a little. Oh, and you don't have a job or any prospects of ever finding one. And your hair looks awful, girl when was the last time you took a shower?
I know. Everything seems stressful right now. The world as you know it is being held together by a thread of sanity that grows thinner every day. Dinner for the past week has been Subway and outside it's a bleak 20 degrees. Your body has been vitamin D deficient for oh, approximately five million years.
Guess what, n00b Rose? It's all gonna be okay. In 18 months, your life will be completely different as you know it. You'll have visited new countries, met new people, seen new sights, discovered new facts, and most importantly of all, learned new things about yourself. All of what the next year and a half holds for you, both the good and the bad, will mould you into a person that is not who you are today. Sounds scary, yeah, but trust me. It's for the better (just look at Spider Man!).
Many of these life lessons you will have to digest and learn in due time. They are little nuggets of wisdom that require patience and realization to settle within you and become valuable to you. Most of them I cannot give to you right now, because they would either spoil all the good stuff that's coming, or because you simply wouldn't heed my advice. But there are a couple of things I wish you'd know:
* In order to sustain any sort of meaningful relationship, whether it's with a friend or a family member or a boy or a squirrel, you have to love yourself first.
* You don't have to be at every party or meet up or event. Take some you time and enjoy being alone.
* You look fine without make-up. Don't wear so much of it.
* Often times the mind is stronger than the body. What you can make yourself believe can have a huge effect on what you actually accomplish. As such, you should treat your mind well because it's your best asset. Start by getting a reasonable amount of sleep each night.
* Try to set goals for yourself. Start small, like cutting out soda for a week or scheduling a Skype date with your best friend. Always be working on something to improve who you are, how you feel, or what you know.
* Delete Angry Birds from your phone. Nothing good will come out of keeping that game.
* Stop getting haircuts that make you look like you have a mullet.
That is all for now. You're doing a good job. The days seem like they're going slowly and stressfully, but try to find something good about where you are. You are an incredibly lucky person - never forget that or take it for granted.
Good times are ahead.
Love,
Future You
