Dear 7th grade me,
Starting school after Covid-19 will definitely be a change. Coming back to school after 2 years will definitely be a weird experience. There will be many good and bad memories you will make but the outcome will definitely be worth it. Many friendship breakups will happen and even though being sad is an option, just know that your future is defined by a lot more than that. There are also a lot of hardships you will end up going through. Don’t be scared of them though! All the mistakes you think will end up ruining your life, are just going to end up making you a better person.
I know you think your life is going to be a complete mess but there are things you can still control. Though now that I have experienced a lot more, I know you would prefer knowing how to manage your reactions to everything you have going on. There will always be things that will constantly go wrong. From getting embarrassed to losing people from your life, your emotions will be a roller coaster. There is nothing stopping your emotions from spilling out, except by learning to overpower them. By managing the way you act and talk to the different things happening around you, you will be able to truly feel in control of yourself and feel more confident. I remember thinking I would never get over anything bad that was happening to me. But I promise that everything will be better than ever. Even now, I look back and think 7th and 8th grade were the best years ever.
By learning to focus more on the better in your life, you will start to feel better about where you are right now. While everybody else may see you as this one image, the only thing that will end up mattering in a few years will be what YOU think of yourself and what you do. So by expanding the activities you do and being more extroverted, you will learn to be less scared later on in life and you will be able to express yourself more easily.
Always remember to think before you act. I know you are tired of constantly hearing people telling you this but it is actually really important. Do NOT fall into peer pressure and make decisions that you think you may regret. Even if you think different choices you make will not matter, remember that everything can come back to you. While you should still enjoy yourself and have fun because right now there is not a lot of pressure on you, things always have consequences. People around you are constantly going to want to make dumb decisions but it does not mean that you have to go along with them. Always remember to stick up for yourself and stay on track. Nothing is worth losing people’s trust and worsening your relationships with them.
So just remember that there are always going to be hardships going on in your life and that’s okay. You will learn to overcome them and everything will get easier as you go. By being able to acknowledge that everything will be okay, I hope it gives you the courage to be more loud and stand up for yourself at times.
Love,
Your 10th grade self (Xitlalic Moreno)