Letter to Myself Going into Junior Year

Dear Kendall, 

Junior year has finally come. Guess now you have to get all your s*** together. This year begins the time to really think about what direction you want your life to go, you can’t work at Blaze Pizza forever (or at least I hope you don’t). This year I want you to make goals for yourself and this time, actually accomplish them. Start small. Instead of waking up in the morning and immediately reaching for your phone, reach for your journal and write for 10, 20 or 30 minutes. Do the same thing before bed. Instagram can wait.

Make this your top priority and stick to it, you and I both know how mad you get at yourself when you don’t stick to your plans. 

Writing has so many benefits whereas sitting on your phone has next to none.

Even if you just write for 10 minutes, you can set up your plans for the day so that you have an idea of what you want to get done for the day. This also gives you that sense of productivity that you always seem to chase.

Think about everything it took to get to this point. The late nights you spent writing application essays that turned into late nights writing actual essays for class. You should probably stop procrastinating, too. All the times you spent stressing about keeping that 4.0 GPA. Let yourself accept the fact that getting a B in Spanish won’t make your world crumble. As long as you give it your all, you’ve done everything you can, remember that. 

Keep pushing yourself to become the best you can but remember to take some time off.

Take care of yourself physically and mentally. Whether this means setting a whole day aside to binge watch The Office on Netflix or just going to get your nails done once in a while. Make sure to take that time to clear your head and focus on yourself in order to get a fresh start. 

Try to make some time not only for yourself, but also for your friends. Sometimes it can seem easy to get lost in school work and your job and all you might just want to curl up in your bed and ignore the world. But instead see what your friends have planned. This might mean going out for a night on the town or having an impromptu game night. Anything would work to get your mind off of the stress of responsibility in your life, even if just for a couple hours. 

Make goals.

Big or small, long term or short term — just make them. Begin with not making big deals out of little issues; nothing good comes from this. Allow yourself to accept that you’re not perfect and you can make mistakes. Instead of beating yourself up for them, learn from them and figure out what you can do better. So what if you didn’t get into the class you really wanted, you can always find other ones and, who knows, it might have an offering next semester. Just don’t give up.

Get organized. I mean, let’s face it, you already have a color coding system for your classes. Even then, summertime can make anyone lazy with their organizational skills. Time to get your head back in the game and make a plan for this year. Start with next week. What do you want to accomplish? Do you want to finally set up that shelf sitting in a box for two weeks? Maybe you want to go out and get a new planner to write out everything that you need to do before school starts. Plus, we both know that satisfying feeling of crossing things off. 

Remember everything you’ve already accomplished.

Becoming a manager at your job, getting accepted into a great school, finding a major that suits you, getting your first ever internship, moving into a house with your best friends, becoming the best cat mom you possibly can and all the other little victories along the way. Don’t forget all of these triumphs, especially when you face an extra hard assignment or task. If you remind yourself of everything you’ve already achieved, it will make it easier to tackle the next task. 

Junior year might present a challenge, but I know you have the will and the promise to not only accomplish it but make it your best year yet. Just remember to make achievable goals, don’t set yourself up for failure. And have fun while you’re at it. Don’t let all the little stressors that life has get you down. Make this year one to remember, not only the memories you’ll make with your friends and family, but also through your academics and career. 

From, 

Kendall