LETTER TO MYSELF

letter to

MYSELF

BEFORE AND AFTER

(LEFT) Horwitz smiles before a choir concert in freshman year. (RIGHT) Horwitz poses for a selfie as a senior.

DEAR 14-YEAR-OLD ME,

Right now as you’re reading this, I’m getting ready to submit my senior biography for choir. Yeah, you’re still in choir. And yes, you’re writing this as a staff member in the newspaper. Interesting, huh? I bet you never expected that. That’s one thing that being a student at CHS will teach you— you have options. With that in mind, you should know that being part of such a big school means you need to be a little uncomfortable and a little bit courageous. Try going to different clubs and trying out different classes. Some of the best experiences you have during your four years will come out of those uncomfortable yet necessary moments. So, no, it’s probably not too late to join the guitar club. You just have to speak up a little. Like Matt Damon said, sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of just embarrassing bravery.

If there’s one very important tip you should hear from yourself, I think it would be to volunteer all the time. Whenever you have a free weekend, go do something helpful. It is pretty easy to create an account for an organization like Carmel Clay Parks and start cleaning up the park. I do it a lot, and the hard work really does pay off.

I read a quote during my sophomore year that I wish I had read earlier: “Wherever we are, whatever we’re doing and wherever we are going, we owe it to ourselves, to our COLUMN

NEWS REPORTER ALLY HORWITZ

Ally will attend Indiana University in the fall

DESIGN

MANAGING EDITOR CALINA HE

Calina will attend Indiana University in the fall art (and) to the world to do it well.” The point of all of these years of schooling is not to check items off of a to-do list or to get A’s. What you will soon learn is that there is so much more to school, and to life, than a checklist. So, yes, work hard. But more importantly, work smart. Produce your best work, not for a grade, but for yourself. Learn something useful from time to time.

I think you might have this idea in your head that I have it all figured out. Before I disappoint you, I must remind you that life is often an uphill battle. You may not have experienced hardship or failure up to this point, but you will. There will be moments where you feel like you have it all figured out, just to be completely overwhelmed with life the next day. I’m telling you, days like those are what give life value and meaning. So, I am quite okay with not knowing. And you should be, too. A few more things: Steve wants to do chemistry experiments with you. Make sure to spend some time with him. Ask Mom how her day at work was. Lastly, enjoy life, and don’t be in such a hurry to grow up.

Regards,