I've written a couple letters to my future self, but I haven't actually received any of those yet. I'm pretty sure I was supposed to get one back when I graduated from high school, but that letter was never seen again. I think we did them in... fourth grade maybe? I'm not sure. We also wrote letters to ourselves in my AP English class senior year of high school. Our class president at the time is supposed to get those to us for our ten year high school reunion. I still remember mine pretty well at the moment, but it will be interesting to see what parts I inevitably have forgotten/will forget!
Well, without further ado, I think I'll write to myself as a high school freshman, at the age of fourteen:
Hey past Christina,
So you're fourteen, a freshman in high school right now. Your time at middle school wasn't the best years ever, probably the least enjoyable of your life so far. And (at least through my rose-colored classes now), high school is going to be a pretty good time. I know it's hard to imagine now, but you're actually going to be part of a sports team for the last three years of school. You're even going to get a few varsity letters and even wear a varsity jacket. I know, crazy, right? You'll even amass a few of those hoodies with your last name on the back like you always wanted. Living the dream. You'll continue with orchestra like you're planning (on that note, it really wouldn't hurt you to practice more. You know, actually put in some effort. You can play pretty well if you practice from time to time). Well, even without regular practice, you'll end up in symphony orchestra for junior and senior year. You're going to also be in pit orchestra for two musicals, Les Misérables freshman year and Once Upon a Mattress senior year. Fantastic job on choosing to be in pit, by the way. Those are going to be some great experiences and especially senior year you'll become really great friends with other pit members.
Speaking of friends, you're going to become friends with this guy named Kyle at least twice before it really sticks and you become bffs. It would've been great if you could have had the foresight to stay in contact all through high school, but it all worked out in the end, so I won't give you too much grief about it. It would be really helpful though if you could write some sort of note telling us when exactly we became friends. It's a question we've debated about many times.
I suppose I should also give you a bit of advice. The main thing I want to say: you should actually put more effort into school! Now, I know you don't really have to try that hard to get good grades. That makes it really easy to just slide on by, but imagine how great you could be if you really put in some effort. Let's see, Chemistry for example. You'll take Chemistry sophomore year and you'll actually put in effort and do some studying for that class and to this day you'll remember the satisfaction of memorizing the periodic table, balancing equations, and acing the final after all the hard work. You really should have tried it more. Oh, also, AP US History? Yeah, do the reading more than a handful of times. (And speaking of history classes, when you're in college please do not think it's a good idea to give history another try... it won't end well... yeah, too late, I know.) The other piece of advice I want to convey to you is just chill out. Calm down a little! Not about everything of course, I encourage you to be just as passionate and crazy as ever about Harry Potter. But, you know, don't worry so much about what other people think of you. Relax a bit, also open up a bit more. Talk to more people in class, go out a bit more, lighten up! This may sound weird now, but it turns out it's not that hard to talk to people whom you don't know too well. Of course, this is coming after nearly nine more years of life experience, so I shouldn't be too hard on you. (Wow... nine years, you're getting up there in age, eh? ... and apparently also have become Canadian.)
Well, little Christina, I think that's all I have to say right now. You're currently living in France (working as an English assistant at a high school) and you're leaving tomorrow to go to Cambridge for the weekend to visit your friend Simone. She's a foreign exchange student from Germany who you'll become friends with your junior year and then five years later will be visiting in England, where she's going to school. Life... right?
Best wishes,
Older Christina
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