Hey you!
               You are in your Junior year of College. You have nine classes left. Then boom, you are done with your undergraduate year. You are going to do the MAT 5 Accelerated Program to get your master’s in Secondary Math Education. You are going to graduate with your master’s but with your Class of 2020. Look at what you are doing.
               As of February 3rd, 2022, you contemplated giving up on school, again…  That is not you. You do not have that mindset. You are not the person who gives up. As of Feb 9th, just a few days later, you realized that those thoughts that you were thinking were just huge bumps in the road. The Paula that I know does not give up. You have gone through so much in life, look at where you are now. You have to keep overcoming all these obstacles that life keeps throwing at you. Just please keep going and do not give up.
               Okay, so the morning you read this letter, you better be excited. You are graduating, whether it be your undergraduate or your grad school. Try and remember that no matter what life throws at you, just keep your head held high love. You are doing your best and everything is going to be okay. The only thing I can really tell you is to make that little five-year-old Paula happy. Make that little girl who played school for fun proud. The one who would make her friends sit there and play school after getting out of school. The one who loved doing anything that dealt with numbers. The one who has constantly loved everything math-related her whole life.
You have always wanted to be a teacher. Look, you can now be one. Go change your students’ lives. Go and be the best math teacher that you can be. Remember that you are doing this, and you went through everything that you have been through for them. Do not forget that. You are wanting to be someone that they can go to if they need to. You are becoming a math teacher because you had two wonderful math teachers all throughout your middle and high school years.
Finally, stay who you are. You are your own person. You have your own goals, keep them. You are a strong, independent woman who is always doing her best even if it may not seem like it. Just keep your head up. You got this!
Love,
That girl who thought she lost herself but didn’t
Paula Nakamura
P.S.
To anyone out there contemplating dropping out or thinking about giving up, please don’t. Keep your head held high. Keep trying! You are one step closer to your goal every day you wake up. You are one step closer to graduating or finishing that one task that you are struggling with. Just do not give up. I am your biggest supporter. I am your biggest hype man. I will always believe in you! YOU GOT THIS! KEEP THRIVING LOVELIES!!!