A Letter to My 21 Year Old Self

With graduation season in full swing, I've found myself reflecting on everything that has happened since my high school and college graduations. It’s funny how some things change, and others remain the same. Am I right?!?

So here it is. A letter to my 21 year old self...

---

Dear me,

Well hellooooo there! I’m sure you’re busy at the moment booking your next spring break trip studying for a test, but as the older, wiser version of yourself I figured I’d take a moment to fill you in on what to expect over the next 10 years. Let’s get started, shall we?

You’re in college. You feel invincible. (You can stay up later, drink more beer, AND can eat your weight in chips and queso without consequences.) Ride this feeling. Savor it. Remember each minute of it because it will go away much too fast. Stick with those internships even if you’re not getting paid. It will eventually pay off, I promise. (Oh, and you will not have a future as an on air tv personality. The sooner you realize this, the better.)  

Or gives you a fake I.D.
(You’re welcome, sister, for allowing there to be not one, but TWO K.V.’s in the El Roco at once…)

Continue to have fun (spoiler alert: they eventually rip down the DownUNDer and Dagwoods and the Cuckoos Nest doesn't exist anymore) but stick to your guns and finish school in a relatively decent time. It will be tough to be one of the first one of your friends in the “real world” but just think – you’re getting a head start on your 401(k)! (Don’t worry, you’re not that lame in your 30s… just messin’ with ya!) Take those spring break trips, but remember you’ll be paying for them for a long, long time.

Can I get a WTF?!?

Many of the friends you have now will still be around in ten years.You might not see them as much as you’d like, but when you do see them it seems as though no time has passed. You’ll also pick up some great new friends along the way. 

In these next ten years you’ll get engaged, graduate from college, move to Minneapolis to work for a gardening magazine (yea, I still can’t believe that one either), and get married (to Manny, duh). You’ll also move back to the G-Funk, work at a newspaper for a short stint, buy a house, and get an even better job all before you turn 27.

It’s when you’re 27 that you’ll experience the biggest change of all. You’re going to become a mom. It’s hard to sum this up in words, but it will change how you do everything from spending free time to how you grocery shop. Two short years later you’ll have another one. Yes, you’ll have two kids before you’re 30. (I’m still shocked too.)

They will make you laugh, cry, laugh some more, and will even want to make you pull your hair out at times. They have the best qualities of you and Manny and then some. Their personalities fill up the room and the free time you once used to use to sleep do keg stands study won’t really exist anymore. I’m here to tell you that’s totally cool and you’ll love it. (Oh, and a little reminder to live it up now…)

They will find you.

When I think of these two little humans their graduation seems so far away (I mean, they’ll graduate high school in the late 2020s!) but I’m sure my/your 45 year old self will tell you it’s going to fly by. (I sure hope the 45 year me is as cool as the 21/31 year old version. Just sayin...) So have fun and enjoy those 20s!

Sincerely,

Your 31 year old self

PS - Britney eventually pulls her $h*t together, Beyonce and Jay-Z name their kid Blue Ivy (I mean, come on), and Grey’s Anatomy is still on TV. You’re welcome.