Have you ever wondered where you will be in nine years? Of course you have, but you have no idea. Where you are headed is not what you wanted, and one day you are going to need to come to grips with that. Let me give you some advice that will serve you well in the future (present? past?).
Watch your English teacher more closely. You cannot always idolize people based solely on the effect they had on you. There are skeletons in closets, and you should see this before it's even more devastating than it would be now. Change your coat. Just try and convince mom and dad to buy you a new one. It’s old and it looks awful. People will judge you for it, even if it is comfortable. Step left when James turns around. Your back will thank you for that one further along the road. Enjoy your fully functioning knee while it lasts. Go out and do things you can only do now, or you will be living to regret it later. Just save your money on Valentine’s Day and try and stay within your league. It’s better to find someone who understands you and likes you for the way you are than to try and impress someone who is vastly different from yourself.
Life is too short to burn bridges over petty grievances. Don’t kick them out of your house, no matter how much you feel like they deserve it. Spend even more time with grandma than you will the next year. She may seem immortal to you now, but fate is fickle. Call aunt Rhonda, check up on her. No one else will. If she knows people care, maybe she will seek the help she needs right away. Don’t give up because the system was designed for people like you. Don’t let it stand in your way like it has for me. Work your way around it and get on with your life quickly.
Tell her you love her when you find her. You don’t need to be macho.
Don’t write that paper for him. It’s going to blow up in your face. Speaking of grades, keep in mind that those guys who harass you now will never graduate while you will and are still miring in misery to this day. Hard work and smarts will pay off in the end, you don’t need to get payback now. Back up all of your materials for your stories. You never know what might happen to data if you are not meticulous. Take up the offer to get that story published; no matter how bad you think it is, it doesn’t matter. Get it published and get your foot in the door.
Stop daydreaming about being a cartoonist, you can’t draw sequentially. It will never work out. Explore your thoughts about education and psychology now. It will serve you much better than needing to start over from scratch. Speaking of which, don’t try to major in art. The stress and lack of sleep is definitely not going to be worth it. Turn down the job at Wal-Mart. Wait for something that isn’t akin to slave labor.
Have fun, and keep looking forward.
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ReplyDeleteDear Mr. Burge,
ReplyDeleteI think this is a good letter with advice for yourself, but what if your seventeen year old self had read it? Yes, it might feel important to try and improve your life, but why not mention the things that went right as well? Life is not always easy, but that is what makes it worth living.
Also, I believe it would have been nice if you had given more advice directly related to teaching (I think it would have better fit the assignment).
Remember, we all have our regrets and tough times in life. Have you ever considered that those times made you the person you are today? At times it made it seem as though you made due with teaching. Don't you love teaching now? I think you meant that it was hard to give up your first dream, but that doesn't mean your new dream should be less exciting and wonderful as your first. Change is not always bad.
Katie
Cameron,
ReplyDeleteThis is good advice to give your 17 year old self, but what about your pre-student teacher self? I believe this particular would have adhered better to the actual prompt if you had alao included some advice for yourself prior to beginning student teaching.