Dear future me, I hope that firstly, that you thoroughly enjoy where you have found yourself. I hope in your time at Longwood you have built many strong long lasting friendships though clubs and classes alike. I hope you have expanded your knowledge and problem solving skills by way of rigorous coding projects and extensive research into textbooks, PDFs, papers, and lectures. One of the main goals I Have for you is to figure out where exactly our computer science major will take us. Currently I’m overwhelmed by everything from the extremely specialized fields to the broad, all encompassing jobs. I expect as you take more complex and in depth classes you will have found your niche.I hope you have also taken advantage of the very welcoming environment, broken out of your shell and are talking to new people regularly , and have jumped into getting involved on campus and have even joined many clubs, some of which might be long time activities you have partaken in such as card games but others which you are just trying for the first time maybe an art or photography club, as there will not be a better place to step out of your comfort zone than here at Longwood. Also you have hopefully joined a recreational soccer team on campus to stay active and balance school with personal hobbies. I assume you have supported the many school sports teams here by attending games and prep rallies. A relatively small goal I hope you achieve is to spend time walking High bridge trail and getting out into nature, maybe on the weekend. I hope I take the time to dig deep into subjects that intrigue me via the library and its extensive catalog. In 4 years I hope you have found you had the opportunity to thrive and learn and you took it.

Dear Future Self,

Over the course of your four years at Longwood, I hope you have gotten to accomplish all your goals while enjoying the college experience. Although the most important thing to me is to obtain a degree in Elementary Education, getting involved in Longwood traditions and building relationships are also a major part of what college is about. I hope that your journey at Longwood is more than just attending classes and doing assignments. There are so many opportunities to learn about what you are curious about and establish bonds with people.
During my first couple of weeks here, I’ve already made many new friends. I can imagine that the bonds will only grow over time. As part of building connections and getting involved, I hope that you join a sorority. Being part of a group is good for socializing and having a sense of belonging. It’s an opportunity to meet new people and try new things.
Another hope I have for you is that you learn a variety of new things. I don’t just mean doing well in your classes, or getting good grades. I hope that you learn in depth about topics that were taught at a surface level during high school. College is where we get to learn about things that interest us. Even though they are not always fun topics, having a wide range of knowledge will be useful later.
Above all else, I hope that you spent your time at Longwood growing into the person you want to be. I’m not quite sure what that looks like yet, but I think that during college you will have discovered yourself. If you got involved by participating in Greek life, hanging out with your friends, joining in on Longwood traditions, I have no doubt that you have had fun and made lifelong friendships. If you spent the time to understand and apply what you learned during college, then you should feel confident and ready for the next step in life.

Sincerely,

Freshman you