Today I spent with my parents celebrating my dad's birthday. Something occurred today that shocked me and left me sad. I then turned to my mom and asked, "Did I act like that in high school?" She quickly answered, "yes." This then prompted me to write this letter.

Dear High School Me,

You think you know everything. You don't! It is actually the quite opposite, you know close to nothing. You are also quite selfish. You think that your friends are your world and that mom and dad, do they even exist? You spend more time in your room than out of it. You also take for granted the lack of studying you have to do. You get mad when there are two tests on one day, and demand justice. Well, I am writing you this letter to set things straight.

Get out of your room! Out there in the rest of the house are the most precious people in the world! When you don't want to drive home from college they are going to drive an hour and a half to pick you up! They are going to pay for your many medical bills. Your parents will turn out to be your best friends, so instead of sitting in your room go out there and have a conversation. I know you can't stand them right now, but in a few years you will long for the day that you get to go home. (Even if it is for less than 24 hours) Oh and those friends, most of them will go their separate ways and you won't talk to them again. If something is important to your parents, it should be important to you! God gave you a loving family for a reason, cherish it! School, don't even get me started. Two tests are the least of your worries. That B the last semester of Calculus, it doesn't kill you. Just be ready for college. The professors don't care how much you have due. You will stay up one night till 3 in the morning copying 21 pages single spaced out of a book. Yes, that was the assignment. No, you couldn't just take pictures, you had to type every word! Also your little protected bubble will be burst. You will see drugs, sex, alcohol, and other things all in one night, not by your choosing. You will meet people that will become your precious teachers. You thought you had good life stories in high school, you just wait! But, there are also somethings that college will give you that you will love. You will find your calling from God. You will get to serve in one of the most amazing churches you have ever attended. You will learn so much about yourself and you will grow and be stretched in ways you don't even think is possible. You will meet some friends that truly fulfill the Proverbs 27:17 verse. All of this is not to scare you but to maybe help you see that the way your living right now is pretty self centered. Why put off the lessons you learn in college if they are only going to make you a better person? I just wish you had seen the importance of life and to spend it with the ones that truly mean the most rather than ignoring them.

With love and a heavy heart,
College You