February 13, 2017
Dear: Ryan (Lil B)
Well look at you. Starting your first year on high school. Single and ready to mingle. Ready to get your swag on. Big man on campus, already friends with seniors, already one of the “cool kids.” You’ve been waiting for this moment for your whole life, you’ve got all the answers, don’t you?
Well before you go knocking the doors down and blowing everyone away with your “awesomeness” let me tell you something. Things are about to get real. Life starts to count now. Those kids you thought were your friends, they’ll lose sight of you of you, fall off the path. Many who started with you won’t finish with you. Choose your friends wisely, but at the sametime make new ones. Don’t burn bridges that aren’t even built.
You know as well as I do that girls and relationships are gonna be a pig part of school high for you. You’re going to want to put everything into a relationship and spend every second of each and every day with them. Don’t, they are going to be the biggest headache and problem that you run into. You’ll spend countless sleepless nights stressing and thinking about them about them, rethinking things you said or did just to impress them. Don’t get me wrong though, being in a relationship is great, it makes you feel amazing. But amazing doesn’t last forever. Don’t rely on them to be your only source of happiness.
Also do yourself a favor and manage your time well and get some sleep. Time management will be one of your toughest battles. Time can’t be beaten, but it can be tamed.
One last thing to remember is to have fun and have no regrets. In a blink of an eye you’ll be halfway through your senior and you’re gonna be asking the question “Where the heck did the time go?” Don’t wish away your first 3 years of high school. Enjoy them, live, get into trouble (not to much trouble), get dirty, make mistakes!
At the end of the day it’s not really about grades or learning, it,s about making memories and having fun.
Good luck.
Be strong.
Have fun.
Ryan
Ryan,
I liked reading this letter. If you had had this advice when you were a freshman, would you have done things differently, or do you truly have “no regrets” as you mentioned? Why or why not? Overall, this was a very intriguing piece of writing that I enjoyed reading.
Dear Ryan:
I am very surprised and pleased with your post because of its truthfulness and dead accuracy.
One sentence you wrote that stands out for me is: ‘Time management will be one of your toughest battles. Time can’t be beaten, but it can be tamed.’ This stands out to because I am really, really bad at managing my time because I can get distracted easily, and just accepting the fact that nothing can beat time but one can tame it is inspirational in its own way.
Another sentence that I really enjoyed was: ‘Don’t burn bridges that aren’t even built.’ This stands out because of the simple message that I interpret: don’t kill a potential friendship that hasn’t even began.
Your post reminds me of something that happened to me. One time I was really stressed out because of my work load, but I told myself I would get it done no matter what and just try to create a normal schedule for myself so I could enjoy myself more often and just have fun.
Thanks for your writing. I look forward to seeing what you write next, because what you have written has inspired me in a way to just enjoy school while it lasts.
Dear Ryan,
I like how you gave yourself great advice and also warned yourself what will happen in your post, “Letter to my Younger Self,” because you went straight to the point.
One sentence you wrote that stands out for me is: “Those kids you thought were your friends, they’ll lose sight of you of you, fall off the path.” I think this is great advice because you are being truthful, this has happened before.
Another sentence that I liked was: “One last thing to remember is to have fun and have no regrets.” This stood out for me because this is a great piece of advice.
Your post reminds me of something that happened to me. I remember 6th grade and that year went by too fast. It seems like yesterday when I walked in on the first day, late.
Thanks for your writing. I look forward to seeing what you write next.
Dear Ryan,
I was interested in your idea to write a letter to your younger self because I think it is important to rethink and process memories that make up who you are. While reading this I felt a trail of hatred and strong feelings.
One thing you said that stood out to me was “Things are about to get real. Life starts to count now. Those kids you thought were your friends, they’ll lose sight of you of you, fall off the path. ” I thought this was a great way of writing in a passionate way because it sounded like you were telling your younger self that they were bound to get hurt. Maybe saying, “Things are about to get real. Life has always counted and continue to count. Beware of your friends and even though they may stray from your path stay strong because you can and will follow that path.” This provides a warning instead of a threatening and scary perspective to your younger self.
Your advice reminds me of me and my younger sister. When she was starting middle school I told her all the scary and difficult sitations she would have to go through which left her fearful of what was yet to come. But then I continued on all the great things that would happen to her as she went through her journey as a student. After reading your letter I started to rethink my own actions and realize that I should start with the good news first to create positive vibes instead of an overwhelming wave of negativity.
Thanks for your letter. I look forward to seeing what you write next, because narratives like these are intriguing and seem to teach me lessons that I would have never come to think of before.
Dear Ryan,
I loved how you used all of the “slang” that a high schooler would use like when you said ,”Ready to get your swag on. Big man on campus, already friends with seniors, already one of the “cool kids.” and I imagine that since this is a letter to your younger self, that you don’t talk a lot with words like “swag” anymore, so it amused me. You also gave yourself advice about troubles that many high schoolers have to deal with and that can be a hardship in their life like,”Also do yourself a favor and manage your time well and get some sleep. Time management will be one of your toughest battles. Time can’t be beaten, but it can be tamed.” Sleep is something that many people are deprived of in any grade so this was very important to me int his letter. I know all of this will probably happen to me and this letter is advice to me too.
Thank you for posting. This was very wise and it actually taught me what I would say to my self when I am older and I can change this now because of this letter.
Ryan- this was pretty funny and I feel like you’re being genuine in your letter to yourself. I like that you said that “time can’t be beaten, but it can be tamed). I don’t think you should change anything about this piece because I feel that that would make it real. Thanks for the lightheartedness, Lil B