HS Grad - 25 Years Later

Dear High School Graduate Me,

You are about to start a very new journey. You will have lots of independence. Life will challenge you in every way. You will make new friends, and you’ll have different struggles with other people. As you go off on your own, you’ll discover so much more about who you are and how you operate. You’ll have opportunities to excel, and you’ll have hard choices to make. Every choice, however, will not change the trajectory of your life, but some might, so exercise wisdom in your actions. Pay heed to these following thoughts. Some are more natural to you than others; don’t shy away from the harder ones.

1. Be quick to listen, and slow to speak -- more than you think you should.

2. Learn about how to adapt your leadership to the styles of those you lead.

3. Learn about yourself – how do others experience you? How do you experience them? What does health look like here?

4. Invest in friendships. Help others and learn to ask for help.

5. Rules are important, but lighten up buttercup, not everything needs correcting.

6. Study hard, challenge yourself, and enjoy working hard.

7. Eat healthy foods.

8. Learn a healthy workout routine; ask someone to teach you how to run sooner vs. later.

9. You’re going to have some failures, fail forward.

10. Not everything should be a fight. See #1.

11. Be open to challenges of your pre-conceived ideas as a way to learn, grow, and develop critical thinking skills.

12. Be silly sometimes. It’s not all serious.

13. Look to grow vs. simply achieve.

14. Drink more water.

15. Embrace challenges; you’re capable of more than you know.

16. Don’t let fear of failure hold you back. See #9.

17. Take lots of pictures (easier now than then!).

18. Listen wisely to feedback about you; apply what matters, take the rest with a grain of salt.

19. Support your classmates. Everything is NOT a competition even if it seems like it.

20. Ignore, don’t feed, the naysayers/trolls.

21. Laugh.

22. Be careful judging; rumors are just that, don’t get caught up in the gossip.

23. Use your voice – with wisdom.

24. Enjoy the sunrises, the sunsets, the snow laden fields. Find the beauty around you.

25. Read your Bible and pray every day.

In 25 years, you’ll reflect on your journey. You can’t fix the mistakes you made, so don’t spend time wallowing in regret. But do reflect and think about what you learned and how you can use that to help someone else. Life will teach you a lot, be a willing and active participant, and when you can’t impact the outcomes, learn from them. Grow deeper and wiser in your faith, and do that through discovery, discussion, prayer, and study. If you don’t see change and refinement in what and why you believe, ask yourself if you’re really digging deep enough. Call your family and stay connected. You may be far away, but having them in your life will be important as challenges, joys, and heartaches arrive.

It is a great journey! Enjoy it. Have fun. Be smart. Lead well. Be a good friend.

With love and fondness for the journey you are about to begin,
Brittany