Dear 11-year-old
Ana,
Right now may
feel stressful and full of changes- for the first time you have to change
classes in the confusing Intermediate School instead of staying in one room all
day- but as you grow older you will realize how easy being eleven really was.
Appreciate your time now when homework consists of reading fifteen pages in a
book or studying ten words for a spelling test. Do not get anxious about school
now; by age 18 you will have a hard enough time remembering what you were like at
age eleven and will barely remember the grades and projects from fifth grade.
But still work hard in school, you will appreciate it senior year for college
applications. In about two years, you will enter middle school and decide for
some reason to do cross-country. Do not do it. Why would you ever want to spend
your time running through the woods and sweating for fun? Accept that you are
not athletic. In middle school everyone will also become obsessed with crushes.
Do not, please do not, let yourself go along with this phase. If you do, you
will make a fool of yourself and cringe as you look back on your obsessing. Do
not worry about everyone else; they will also look back with embarrassment at
their ridiculous actions. Right now you still have to share a room with Tina and
I know you sometimes have to resist the urge to throw something at her from the
top bunk in your bunk bed but soon you will each get your own room. Just hold
out a few more months. You will also learn this soon, but know that if you beg
hard enough, you can convince mom to take in more animals. Do not listen when
she says if you win a goldfish at Blossom you cannot keep it. You may need to
sit down for this next part. Within the next year, you and Anna Witkin will
become friends. I know this comes as a shock, and yes I am referring to Anna Witkin,
the woodchip-throwing demon child. On the bright side, the friends you have now
and the friends you will make in the next few months will stay your best
friends, though it may be hard to believe it right now, as I know they still try
to play tug of war with your arms at recess. Life probably seems full of drama
and changes, but relax and enjoy fifth grade and the next seven years. You’re
going to love them.
Love,
18-year-old Ana
*not one of my official comments
ReplyDeleteI was never the "woodchip-throwing demon child." That was you. I tattled on you to Mrs. Redding (the only time you have ever been even slightly in trouble) but never stooped to that low level.
First off, I ran cross-country in middle school too and unfortunately I never stopped,so I can feel your pain there. Moving on,I notice in your blog how a majority of your sentences start with "Do not" and I did that too, I have also noticed it in other blogs. I find it interesting that for the most part our letters consist of telling our younger selves what not to do, as opposed to what we should do, almost as if we have grown up a little too much.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you looked back on your 11-year old self, and found a kid who worried too much. That was me, too. I wish I could go back, and realize just how trivial all my day-to-day problems were, compared to decisions I now must make as a young adult. I would feel lucky to face the challenges of childhood once again - so innocent and insignificant, even if we did not know it at the time.
ReplyDelete