Dear 6th Grade Rachel,
These next 3 years are going to be a pain. Not particularly in terms of the workload, but mentally. You are going to be bullied. You are going to be broken (both physically and emotionally). You are going to experience trauma. And you are going to learn the most impactful thing about yourself: you are honest and you stay true to yourself no matter what. And that alone is going to earn you a great deal of respect from both teachers and friends. This idea of “being true to yourself” is going to stick with you throughout middle school.
Another piece of advice: make the most of your time you spend with your friends, especially your best friend. I’m not going to tell you her name (no spoilers!), but trust me, you’ll know her when you meet her. And I want you to cherish every moment you have with her. Please.
And although you are going to experience some “bad,” that doesn’t mean that there isn’t any “good” whatsoever. While it may require you to manually pick out the individual, joyful moments in your life, they are going to help you persevere through adversity.
Something else that is going to be key to your success is that “It doesn’t necessarily get easy, it gets easier.” While you might expect things to work out perfectly the first time you try something new, that is not rational, nor is it realistic.
You are going to struggle a lot, but I want you to stay true to yourself no matter what. Although you may think that your kindness isn’t seen, trust me… it is. You are perfect, just the way you are. No matter what anyone tells you otherwise. Everything is temporary, including the difficulty. It will pass. It always does.
Sincerely,
- 8th Grade Rachel
