Dear Future Me,

Dear Future Sarah,

College was the most formative time of your life. It grew, challenged and shaped you into the person you are today. It has also prepared you for the next chapter in your life: your career.

Never forget the extremely late nights you spent studying classes such as Business Law, Intermediate Macro and Insurance. Don’t forget writing on Collegenet.com until the wee hours of the night and eventually winning a scholarship that would define your senior year. Do not let the smell of ergs, sweat or the rhythmic sounds of oars on the water be just a faint memory. Let them linger in the back of your mind with each new challenge you face.

While you reflect on the pain, remember your successes too. Remember how thrilled you were to put away your map of Sevilla one day and walked out the door knowing exactly where you needed to go. How scared you were to let go of the need to constantly translate from Spanish to English in Dr. Hazzard’s Conversational Spanish class. When you did, though, you took your Spanish to new heights. The rush you felt dancing with your friends at Homecoming junior year when everyone else around you was drunk and oblivious. To utilizing that new found confidence to effectively communicate and teach people Spanish to starting up conversations with random strangers. In 2010, it didn’t matter if you spoke to someone new in English or Spanish, what mattered was that you got to know them. The determination you had all throughout the summer and fall of 2011 to never give up or give in. And lastly, but most importantly, the flood of relief that swept over you when you crossed the stage and received your diploma.

Remember that where you are right now, a college graduate, is what you so earnestly dreamed of being the moment you set your foot onto the JU campus on August 22nd, 2007, over four years ago.

All of the things that you have experienced and the education you received are a privilege.

As you make the transition to starting a career in your gap year, do not take anything for granted. Always show up early, dress for the job you want, stay ahead of your competition, always be willing to learn and do not get discouraged. You may have to start a a job that you may not like to eventually obtain the job of your dreams.

Think highly of yourself and as a Daughter of the King, but never for a second think you have arrived. There is always something new to learn, somewhere new to go and someone who knows more than you.

With God at your side and Spain on your mind, you will excel in everything beyond your wildest dreams. And soon Spain will be a reality once again.

Love,

Sarah