Thursday, April 30, 2009

Letter to myself at 15

Hi fifteen-year-old me,

Don't kill me. Seriously, okay? Just read this and then give me a chance to explain. Since I know this is the number one question mark in your head at this point, I'm going to answer the question for you but then tell you how you got there: You go to Michigan State. Okay? Breathe. It's okay. It's not because MSU was your only option. You got into plenty of great schools. MSU just turned out to be the best, and you LOVE it here. Seriously. God knew what He was doing when He sent you to MSU. You're an education major. Funny, huh? You're so set on journalism right now...silly Christine. You don't like pressure and crazy spontaneous deadlines. You don't like writing what other people tell you to. You LOVE kids. Shouldn't the choice be obvious? Anyway, the College of Education at MSU is the #1 College of Education in the country (for the fourteenth year in a row this year!), so you're at the best school you can be at for your major. PLUS, in-state tution is definitely an advantage when you have to pay tuition. Yeah, you get a few scholarships and such, but it is surprisingly difficult to come up with thousands of dollars. You manage, though. Don't worry. Right now I'm a year away from graduating, and the financial horizon is pretty bright. Don't stress.

Speaking of "don't stress," Christine you have to CALM DOWN. You freak out too much. Yeah, KAMSC is hard, but let me let you in on a little secret: you do, in fact, graduate. Your final GPA comes out to a...3.86, I think? Yeah, that's right, I don't even remember it right now. I know that your GPA is practically engraved into your brain, but it doesn't actually matter that much. Seriously. There's going to be this one night where you go out for pizza with Laura and Emily (you meet them at the Civic) and spend the whole night laughing your head off and then don't get your Chemistry extra credit done on time, and you get a B+. Let me just tell you right now: WORTH IT. So worth it. The fun that you have in high school far outweighs the importance of your GPA. Once you start college, no one cares about it anyway. Plus, you get a 32 on the ACT, which is sweet. That opens a lot of doors.

KAMSC's killer, yeah, but you need to not stress out too much. Seriously. You spend way to many hours freaking out. Your study group is the BOMB, though. I'm 20 and still friends with all of them. It's way more fun when we get together now and don't have to study. :-)

Other than school...I guess the second most important thing you care about would be boys? Hmm...advice for you... OH! Since I know you're wondering about this, yes Nick does actually like you back. Don't date him for so long, though. As it stands right now, you guys make it through 10 months (oh, and contrary to what you believe, you don't get dumped). Don't let yourself get that attached, though. I mean, seriously Christine - you know that relationship is going nowhere. Why waste so much time on it? PLUS, there's this amazing guy waiting for you...and when you're hanging out with Nick you don't get together with the other guy until much later. Do you want to know who it is, or do you want to be surprised? Hmmm...knowing you, you want to know who it is. Okay, ready for this *drumroll*.....Rex Webb. Okay, once again, don't freak. He's not bald like in middle school when you date him. lol. He gets really attractive junior/senior year, you guys have Spanish 4 together (oh yeah, you skip Spanish 3) , and you become best friends. When you go to the hospital for five days junior year, Nick visits you once and Rex is either there and/or calls every single day. He's a really, really good guy. He doesn't tell you that he likes you because you have a boyfriend (once again, drop Nick sooner), but you guys stay close until a few months after you and Nick break up, at which point your friendship with Rex starts to become something more. He's amazing, Christine. The best guy in the world, I swear. You guys have been dating for two and a half years now, and he LOVES you. You love him, too. Oh, and I know you said that you never wanted to date anyone for more than two years before you married them, but you fell in love when you were seventeen. Getting married fresh out of high school wasn't very practical - you just weren't planning on falling in love quite so soon. You guys haven't been waiting because you're not sure about each other, though. I know that's what you were worried about. Mom and Dad dated for five years because they couldn't decide whether or not they wanted to commit...you and Rex decided to get married after you'd dated for two months. Yes, you were totally freaked out. But hey, as of now you guys are still together and just waiting it out until you're "old enough" to tie the knot. You graduate next year - who knows what will happen? But yeah, just know it's not one of those "Eh...do I actually like him?" type of things. You do like him. A lot.

Speaking of Mom and Dad...give them a break. They're not so bad. Especially Mom. You give her so much crap - I think you don't really know how much you hurt their feelings. Be nice. In three years you leave for college. Oh, and help Cara find new friends. Her Heritage friends turn super weird when they get to Jr. High. Renee threatened to kill her last week, and Amanda (yeah, she's thirteen) is dating a 21 year old. So find her some cool friends, ok? You're her sister - it's your job. As of now, though, Cara's still cool.

Anyway, that's about it for now. Keep your chin up and don't worry so much. Follow Christ in everything you do, because whenever you try to follow your own plans it turns out badly. He knows what He's doing with your life, so relax and enjoy it! :-)

Love,
Twenty-year-old me

2 comments:

  1. Dear 15-year-old Betsy,

    Just wanted to answer a few quick questions, but, as usual, I'm busy, so don't push your luck on getting too many details.
    1. You'll get pretty. Quit worrying about that. All the girls you think are pretty now will start smoking their freshman year of college and will tan too much so their skin will become leathery and eventually fall most of the way off. Jealousy does not become you.

    2. You can't save everyone. In fact, you can't save anyone. You can't even save yourself. Let Jesus do the saving, and just follow your heart.

    3. It's going to work out. I promise. I recommend napping through the major stresses; naps teach you that, either the problem will still be there when you wake up, or it won't. Either way, it wasn't as urgent as you thought.

    Take care. Hurry up and get here!

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  2. P.S. You're always going to drift in and out of different social groups, but don't let your old friends slip through the cracks! Take time to catch up with friends like Christine, even if it's just reading her past-and-probably-no-longer-applicable blogs from afar, and thinking of her fondly....

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