A letter from May 13th, 2021

Dear FutureMe, Being a senior during the COVID 19 pandemic was your hardest challenge you've ever faced throughout your high school experience. From the end of junior year and until now you faced challenges both mentally and physically. I missed out on spending quality time with friends and even making new friends from my new classes. This whole year was a new situation for everyone because we all had no experience and learned new things as time passed. Life didn't feel the same and I remember having the “break” from school but as time passed I realized that my everyday routine felt plain. However, that feeling was starting to feel like I had social anxiety, almost forgetting how to socialize. Many friendships were lost, some for the best but I lost many good friends. Teachers and students were adapting to the pandemic and online learning together and every day became easier and easier because the human race was adapting to the life shift. When the time came to really start looking into your future, was when you were at the lowest point mentally in your life. For a period of about 3 months, you suffered from anxiety and insomnia because every second you were thinking constantly about your own downfall. Thousands of thoughts filled your mind, every situation and scenario of you failing and being unsuccessful. Day and night you struggled by yourself without talking to anyone but fighting this war by yourself, but after the hard fight, you overcame it. The deepest and darkest thoughts went through your head and you fought it alone and made it out. After that, you developed the most dangerous mindset and became 1000x mentally stronger. You started to become almost a new person, but no you weren't. You were becoming a better version of yourself. You began working harder in school, ended your 1st semester with a personal best, being from an average of a 3.3 to a 3.7 GPA. Even though that was a good improvement I know I was capable of much more and had much more to prove. You began working out in mid-February of 2021 and had intentions of becoming a better person physically. Throughout the whole pandemic you were learning new things, things that would benefit you immensely in your future. In the future, 5 years from now I will have graduated from CSULB with my major in Health Care Administration and either pursuing PA school or taking a program that can prepare me for the PANCE exam to officially become a PA. The journey will be extremely difficult, with long nights filled with homework assignments and essays, stress build-up, and hardships. But when the day comes and I officially begin my career it will all be worth it. A flexible high-paying career that I will enjoy helping people in their worst moments. I will be able to afford an apartment and be able to start providing for myself and a family when the time comes. In my free time, I will spend time with family and friends, spending quality well deserved time overall. I need to gain stronger work and study habits to be successful and learn to adapt because I will be entering a new lifestyle as a young adult. To the best me, Eric