Hi J,
So you’re leaving for college.
The next few months will be some of the greatest and most terrifying of your life. It can feel like everything is changing and that you’re in a world totally different than the one that you’ve lived in for all of your life before this. Everyone has heard someone older (and hopefully wiser) say that “college was one of the greatest times of my life” so everyone assumes that college is supposed to be like a movie montage set to upbeat music where everything works out perfectly.
Well, I sure hope that’s what ends up happening to you but I want to tell you that it’s ok if it’s not.
The first few months might not always go as smoothly as you’d like. Maybe the friends that you make are totally different from the friends that you knew back home, maybe you screw up your first few loads of laundry, or maybe you won’t find your life’s passion first semester freshman year.
Don’t worry - it happens to the best of us.
You’re going to miss the things that you take for granted at home – Mom and Dad around all the time to pester you about things you just have to get done, D dragging you outside to play catch, and popping into your goofball friends’ houses at will to drag them on some crazy plan.
And that’s ok. Eventually you’re going to get used to that “city” in Maine that you’ll be calling home for the next few years.
You’ll have the opportunity to do things that really matter, to explore topics you’d never get the opportunity to do in our small town, and meet people you’d never get to meet otherwise. And in the summer, you’ll find that all sorts of doors open for you now that you’re a college student and not just some punk from a local high school. You might even find that some of those companies are willing to PAY you for your work. (Just remember to apply early!)
I’m sure you’ll knock it all out of the park.
I hope your first semester at school is everything that you hoped for and more. But if it’s not all rainbows and sunshine, that’s ok too. Remember to call home sometime, Mom and Dad are going to miss you. I know that you’ll be able to tackle any obstacles that present themselves as long as you work hard enough and keep that dumb goofy grin on your face. Don’t ever hesitate to reach out if you need anything. I’ll see you at homecoming, we’re going to kick your butt. It’ll be a great time.
I love you bro.
J just began his freshman year at a small college in Maine. If the USPS did their job, a physical copy of this letter should've been delivered to J ahead of online publication. Fingers crossed!