A letter from Oct 28, 2025

Dear 16-year-old me, It's October 28th 2025. I don't know why I didn't write a letter back to you on my birthday. Maybe I was busy, maybe I thought I was too old for it, I don't know. But I do know that I am very bored right now, and I think receiving a letter on my 16th birthday would make me happy. I'll start by answering the questions from last year. I'm a sophomore now, but I'll try to answer it based on how things were last year. A lot happened (in a good way!). 1. Who are your teachers? My teachers in freshman year were Ms. Lodholz (PE and Health), Mr. M-H (STEM Physics), Bang Sensei (Japanese 1), Mr. Wong (Choir), Mr. Thacker (Math), Mr. Oldham (Global Studies), Mr. Bowman (Lit+Comp) and Mr. Neidig (AT). 2. Do you miss middle school? No! I don't miss middle school at all actually. We learned pretty quickly that high school is way better. The work is challenging, but fun. We have great friends and a really great community. I love high school so much! 3. Who are your friends? We have a lot of friends. Off the top of my head there's Lilah, Venus, Amara, Gia, Yuyoun, Sophia, Izzy, Srinika, Sarika, Lauren, and much more! 4. Crushes/Romantic life? None lol 5. What's it like seeing people from elementary school? It's interesting. Most of them kind of remember me but don't really talk to me. London and Paisley remember me very well, which makes sense considering how much we were together in elementary school. Other than that I don't really interact with people from elementary school to be honest. 6. Relationship with Ma? Great! Couldn't be better, honestly. I love her so much. Overall, this year has been a bit tough. Dada and Nanabhai died this year, which is something we could never have predicted. But other than that, I'm really proud of who we were freshman year. Sophomore year is going well so far too. Math is tough, but I'm confident we can get through. There's one mean girl, but as far as I can tell she's the only person that I know that doesn't like me. Questions for you: 1. How was the PSAT? That's coming up for us on Friday, and I'm pretty nervous. There's a lot of pressure coming from Mamma. Is everything ok? 2. How was Japan? I'm really excited for it right now, and I hope it was fun for you!! 3. Are your friends ok? Did you make any new ones? 4. Are your classes going well? 5. Do you feel successful? Are we meeting our goals and staying on top of everything? 6. Crushes/Love life? I'm guessing there's still nothing going on, and that's totally ok!! 7. Shows? How was Wizard of Oz? How was Brigadoon? Did we get into Into the Woods? 8. Did you get your license? That's all the questions I have. Please remember to take care of yourself. You put a lot of pressure on yourself, but remember that you are loved, and you should love yourself. I know this year can be a little bit scary, and knowing us we're probably stressed about junior year, but I believe in us. Think about all the things we're looking forward to doing if you need to motivate yourself!! I don't know how to express how much I love you, and as long as we're happy I'm sure it will all work out. We've grown a lot, and I can't wait to keep growing. Love you so much, Your 15-year-old self