I hope you look at yourself and see that you are greater than your younger self ever could have imagined. You probably have made Mom and Dad proud. You probably ended up going abroad, even though every nervous bone in your body was telling you to wait. You definitely found your lifelong friends. They make fun of you, as usual, but they will always remain your family. Your truly-related rambunctious family is as crazy as ever.

Remember when you would come home from breaks and your brothers would be two inches taller than you? Well, now they tower over you like skyscrapers. I think they will always look up to you,even if they have you beat by a few inches.

I hope you took risks, grabbed spontaneity and ran with it. You weren’t usually one to sit back and wait; you were a go-getter. You were never afraid to say what you felt. Putting all the cards on the table is our style, isn’t it? Don’t be afraid to fall in love, or keep falling — whichever one it is now.

Either way, keep taking those risks and live your wonderful life with no regrets. High school was one thing, college was another, then the real world hits you out of nowhere, I’m guessing. You know nothing comes easy, and that just makes you work even harder.

Current ‘you’ is still creating worry over where she is going and where she will end up. Her best friends are getting internships, moving to new cities, living in houses and finding themselves. Because of age, you are just a year behind it all.

You know that people will leave and will continue to grow their lives elsewhere, but you just sit here wondering what life will be like without them down the road. Some of my aunts and uncles were technically my parents’ college best friends. I know that will be the same for you and your family someday.

Who are you going to be in 10 years? You will be extremely different than who you are now, so you are going to try to mold the best version of yourself until then.

Over the first year of college, I found my life going through so many changes. Reflecting about it now, each of those changes and differences made me a better person. Friendships shifted, my siblings matured, I felt a difference in myself and the world around me.

People in 2018 are still harsh on one another. Debates and degrading comments from political parties still dry out the mouths of butthurt bullies everywhere. Every morning walking to class I see people sucked into their smartphones, not even looking at where they are walking or witnessing the kind souls surrounding them. We lose role models, family and musical influences to drugs and alcohol far too soon. Hopes for companionship are artificially reached by people swiping right or left. Anyways, I hope the world isn’t crumbling at the feet of unhappiness. I hope the world never limits you to all that can be accomplished. It hasn’t this far, and I know you have no plans of stopping.

Despite never truly knowing where you will go or where this world will take you, I hope you are happy. I hope you go to sleep and wake up every morning loved by those around you. I hope you continue to explore and and seek the spontaneity you always craved. I hope you have made a life for yourself that the youthful ‘you’ would applaud. Find your smile in the little things, like waking up in the morning to the smell of blueberry pancakes or the spears of sunlight hitting the windows of your house just right.

“There is a lot of work ahead of me, ahead of us,” I tell myself. But I will continue to do everything in love and seek that happiness we all deserve.