Dear Freshman self, 

I know that you have many questions and you are super anxious to know how everything will end up and if you made the right choice by coming to U of D. If you remember one thing from this letter I want you to know that it’s ok to slow down and take a breath. Enjoy the small moments, even the ones that you wish that you could forget about already. One day all the jugs, the sleepless nights, failed tests and unexpected friendships that turned into lifelong brothers will all be distant memories that you will hold close to your heart forever. So cherish it all no matter how frustrating or insignificant it may seem to you at the moment. I’d be lying to you if I said the next few years won’t be a challenging time in your life because they definitely will. You’ll be tested in ways that you would not have imagined and just when you think that you finally have gotten the hang of things there will be another curveball coming at you. Don’t let this stop you from taking in the beauty of every moment anyway. Don’t be afraid to go outside of your comfort zone and remember that it’s ok to fail. You don’t have to get everything right or meet every single perfect ideal that you set for yourself. You’ll learn to love the test score you got on the biology test even though it wasn’t what you expected, you’ll make peace with the fact that you didn’t make the basketball team and trust that God has a different plan for you, and in learning to love and accept all these things you will learn to love and accept yourself even more. I did a little research on U of D’s mascot which is the cubs, and I learned that they enter the world blind for the first few weeks of their lives. Overtime they gain their sight but for those first few weeks they are completely blind. Right now I’m sure that you feel the same way, completely blind but trust me when I say you’ll gain your sight. As I get ready to end my journey as a cub and embark on a different path I find myself once again at a stage of blindness. In the fall I’ll find myself once more as an anxious freshman, except for this time with a lot less acne and hopefully a better sense of direction when it comes to finding my classes on a college campus. I still don’t have everything quite figured out but I won’t think its the worst thing in the world when I can’t find a class on campus and I remember how I showed up to Mr.Feeny’s class late on the first day because I passed his room three times and he started yelling at me in Spanish. Or how I took the wrong bus home one day after school. I can find comfort in the fact that my younger freshman self was just as confused but I came out on the other side much better and I have no doubt that I’ll do it again. It’s honestly crazy to think that I’m graduating in less than a month and  writing to my freshman self when just yesterday I was walking through the doors of U of D for the first time and could not wait to walk out of them again at 2:45 to leave. But like I said, cherish it all and don’t blink because before you know it you’ll be wishing that you could do it all over again. I love you and I am rooting for you,

With love,

Your future and somewhat wiser senior self.