Letter from the Editor Corners of Coppell In due time Reeser threading together work, family fun

Angelina Liu Executive Editor-in-Chief @angelinaliuu

Touching the blazing hot window pane, I slumped down in my seat in dejection. After two days of driving, we had finally reached the dusty, flat state of Texas.

I wanted to continue fourth grade at Mosby Woods Elementary School in the suburbs of Washington D.C., but my dad had made other plans for the family. The feeling of melancholy persisted as I sat in the humid, smoky interior of Hard Eight BBQ. The stuffed animal carcasses mocked me from their mounts as twangy Southern music echoed through the wooden walls and floors.

I distinctly remember missing my sloping backyard, the crepe myrtle that brushed against my bedroom window on windy days. I missed feeling the cold floor of my beige-tiled basement. I wanted to plant tulip bulbs in my front garden, feel the soft cool dirt run through my 9-year-old hands. I reminisced about the pink cherry blossoms I saw on my way to ice-skating practice.

At the time, I worried that I would never find friends or happiness in Texas. I disliked the incessant heat, flatness and ugly shrubbery.

I was a very melodramatic child.

Entering high school, I encountered a completely different set of circumstances. Like my mother, I have a tendency to worry. I overthink every situation, analyzing each interaction and fretting over every possible outcome. Nights before important events would be consumed with anxiety, tossing and turning as I wondered what the future held for me.

In an attempt to rationalize this, I began sending letters to my future self. The earliest letter dates back to 2019 and contains 30 questions for my future self.

“Currently it’s summer 2019. I start high school in 4 days. I’m not nervous. Should I be? I’m scared I’ll lose the friends I made in middle school.”

Reading this letter in the spring semester of my senior year gives me relief. Intertwined in the writing is hints of uneasiness, fear and desire to know the future. It is clear I wanted to find some semblance of control, despite the fact that I knew that was out of the question.

In response to what I wrote, I say, “No. You shouldn’t be nervous.” In my four years, I have gone through struggles, but in the end I made it. I’m here and I am whole. My friends that I made in middle school are still who I consider my closest.

Just this morning, I went on what feels like a millionth coffee run with Shrayes Gunna, singing a little too loudly to sad songs that were probably meant for solitude and discussing the next concert we should attend.

I incessantly chatter with Meghna Kulkarni about celebrity crushes and what romcoms we’ll watch next. I continue to meet up with Hannah Hakeem to film food mukbang videos to be posted nowhere, the middle school clips still existent on her school iPad. I go on shopping trips with Ashley Qian, converse with Matthew Tindoc and stay up late to FaceTime Taara Bhojwani.

The next year, sophomore year, I was a first-year staffer for The Sidekick. The letter subsequently reflects the struggles I faced in the program.

“I have to work on InDesign and the interview questions for the Taylor Young story.”

The pages that I designed for Volume 32 Issue 2 and the feature on Taylor Young became one of the many I have contributed to the program. Not to sound haughty, as the editor-in-chief of a Pacemaker-winning staff I would say it worked out pretty well in the end.

Every year, I continue to write letters to myself, prying about my future. I worry that I won’t be enough, that I won’t achieve my goals and dreams. However, if the future letters have taught me anything at all, it’s to trust in the process. Despite how you may feel at the moment, just remember that it is only temporary. Everything will work out in the end, if you give it enough time.

Maya Palavali Staff Cartoonist @mvpalovalley

For owner Gail Reeser, Sew Much Fun is more than just a business; it is a way for her to connect with her family and communi ty. Starting in Oct. 1997 with offering school spirit yard flags as an alter native to metal ones, Sew Much Fun now works with high school dance teams across the state of Texas. Combining her business and artistic sides, Reeser has been able to provide embroidered products for decades to her customers.

How is your family involved with the business process?

I started the business 25 years ago and I would work out of my home here in Coppell. As things got bigger and busier, my husband, John, helped; he helps with the finance, book keeping and paperwork. Our oldest son, Chris, he’s a graphic designer so he helps with some of the design work, but he also does embroi dery and printing as well. I taught our youngest daughter, Elizabeth, how to do the T-shirt quilt and showed her how to run the embroidery machine. She now lives in South Carolina, but she does quilts for us and ships them back.

Why are you a home based company?

When I first started 25 years ago, my kids were still in Coppell schools. This allowed me to work part time and still manage my kids. When my granddaughter was young, I helped take care of her and ran her to different places. It allows me the flexibility so that if I need to take off a few days I can and if I need to work Sunday afternoon then I can work.

Did you have any prior business experience?

My parents had an engraving business of their own in New Jersey. They would do trophies, awards and plaques. They needed help and I helped because when you’re part of a family you have to help support them. I actually started working for my dad when I was 11 doing the engraving. It was all hand done.

We had a little typeset, little letters that you would put into the engraving machine to type, and we had this little stylus you had to trace around that. Now of course, everything is automated. I worked for my parents for many years until I got into high school and then had a business job, but we still helped out because they would get so busy.

What is a unique memory you have with your business?

This is one that my husband always tells me you forget to tell people about this. In 2006, a parent from Town Center Elementary contacted me and said that a student at their school had an uncle who was an astronaut and was going up into the space shuttle. They needed a school flag made. I created the three by five regular size flag and they gave it to the student who then gave it to his uncle. When he brought it back and he came to the school, they had a little presentation and they invited me to come.

What do you like about your business?

I like to be creative; when customers are telling me what they want, I create the whole design and I pick the colors. I love being able to come up with something when customers say they know what they want but they don’t know how to tell you. I put the whole thing together.

What advice would you give to a student wanting to start a business?

I would tell them to do their research and make sure they find out everything about whatever it is that they want to go into. It’s not just about making money, but to have a passion for what you want to do. I belong to a lot of Facebook groups, where people share and help each other and ask questions. That’s one other thing: ask questions. My dad always told me that if you don’t know something, ask.

AngelinaLin Stiff fuitchantar