dear little me

Dear Little Me,

I know you. You don’t know me yet, and that is okay. I just wanted to write to you and tell you a few things, but the number one thing being is that it is all going to be okay.

I can picture you sitting in your fifth grade classroom and writing messages back and forth to your friend on a sheet of notebook paper attached to a clipboard and an invisible ink pen. I can see you being vividly upset at your 98% on your literacy assignment that ruined your 100% average in literacy class in eighth grade. I can see you sitting there in your black band chair playing the clarinet for what ended up being your last official time when you got a text from Mom that the St. Patrick’s Day Parade was canceled. 

I can picture you looking at the clubs and organizations at different schools, 25% excited to go to college and 75% terrified to leave home. I remember you deciding in English class sophomore year of high school that you didn’t want to be an English major because you were always bored in class, and so you randomly decided that Communications would be the way to go. I remember you being somewhat relieved when classes were all online freshman fall, and then continued that way into freshman spring, because it meant you got to stay home for an entire additional year.

But the thing is, I also remember you writing little stories on printer paper and illustrating them in crayon. I remember you taking a red pen to the twenty-something pages you wrote and editing your own piece. I remember you finishing a full length novel during the pandemic after having worked on it since seventh grade. I remember you joining Her Campus and getting to publish your work for the world to read, if it wants to do so. 

I remember you, with your crayons and printer paper wanting to be me. Wanting to write for other people to read, wanting to become a part of something, wanting to keep sharing your love for words. Now I’ve completed three internships in the publishing field during the past year and a half and am the president of Her Campus, where I have over twenty articles published. I have dreams and hopes of a career in the publishing industry and the smallest of hopes that I will be able to publish a novel, whether it be the one sitting in your Google Drive or another one that isn’t yet written.

In some turn of events, I am who I wanted to be when I was little. I was what you wanted to be when you were my age. And while it was a rocky road getting here, I think I got to where I need to be and where I want to be. I am ready to see where I go from here, and thankful for all of the people who supported me along the way in this journey. 

Sincerely,

Older Me

• career
• dearpastself
• graduating
• hercampus
• hercampusmillersville
• millersvilleuniversity
• pastself
• publishing
• writing