Lianna Holston: A letter to freshman year me
Or sophomore year me tbh
But first, things I wish I could tell the couple relentlessly making out at a bus stop across the street from the coffee shop in which I am currently sitting:
- Pls don’t
- What you’re doing is the worst
- Your cutoff jeans do not justify this kind of behavior, sir
- Nor do your unlaced fashion/construction boots, ma’am
Great now back to the ~letter~
May 2016. Oxford, UK
Dear 2014-2015 me,
Hey. How ya doin? Still worried about your GPA? That’s cute. Listen, I just wanted to check in and advise you on a few topics that are probably playing large roles in your life right now (and possibly still are a year from now haha what).
- No boyfriend? No stress! Remember how all the people you know who are in relationships seem to feel obligated to devote large amounts of time to this person they’ve chosen to date because they live down the hall? You don’t have to do that! You’re at a unique point in your life where you don’t owe anything to anyone, nor are you responsible for anyone else. Revel in this freedom. Eat bagel sandwiches whenever and wherever you please.
- Buy some ~fun jackets~. Everyone could use more polka-dotted outerwear in their wardrobes.
- Go to the gym. I know it sucks and athletic people are scary and the fact that exercise clothes are taking over the fashion industry is absurd, but endorphins are real. You’ll feel better afterward.
- A year from now The Lumineers are gonna release a song called Ophelia and it’s gonna be really effing good.
- Preserving your GPA isn’t really the reason you’re at Stanford. Look at all the inspiring (and hot, tbh) people you are surrounded by. Talk to them! Laugh with them! Cry with them! Serenade them unintentionally when you discover that it’s not just you in the shower room! There’s a whole lot of different stuff to learn about life outside the classroom than there is inside. Unless you’re studying biology, in which case you’re stuck learning about life all the time. (Because biology means the study of life. Get it? It’s funny. Oh shut up. You’ll understand the value of puns when you’re older.)
- There is a seemingly infinite number of Instagram accounts dedicated solely to samoyeds. Follow as many of them as your young heart desires.
-
look at that magnificent FLUFF
Reaching out to people in times of need isn’t a sign of weakness. It takes guts to admit that not everything is as peachy keen as Stanford students are so good at declaring it to be. Seriously, fuck the Stanford Duck Syndrome. College and life in general are full of highs and lows. You might have the best morning of your life followed by the worst afternoon of your life. Keeping that ~emotional rollercoaster~ bottled up isn’t really a sustainable way of functioning. TALK ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS.
- Stop expecting to have a meet-cute in every coffee shop you go to. Seriously the sheer amount of awkward unrequited eye contact is not worth the risk.
- Breakfast burritos are never reasonable anytime past 12 noon. That being said, they are delicious 24/7. Tbh I don’t have a solution to this problem. Good luck.
- You’re gonna be hit with unexplainable bouts of angst every now and then. I attribute this to being a teenager, hormones, and/or sleep deprivation. One highly effective treatment is to lie in bed and listen to sad songs on the Spotify playlist that is aptly named “Sad.”
- Stay away from Candy Crush.
- Try not to fall in love with every cute guy who is marginally nice to you. Also heads up he will not remember you if you introduce yourself to him while he is #hammered at a frat party.
- Be open to new experiences, because you’re about to have some incredible/hilarious/unforgettable ones.
- ^ related to that: set more than one alarm for your fall quarter history final.
- Not everyone is nice all the time. You should still try to be. But not everyone is mean all the time, either. Some people are tho. Avoid those ones like the plague.
- A year from now a beautiful man will bike past you on High Street in Oxford while wearing a tuxedo with the sun illuminating his coiffed hair in the most epic of backlighting scenarios. It’ll be a real great moment to bear witness to.
- There is a very real chance that if you eat too much peanut butter you will end up in the hospital the next day.
- Looking forward to next year: proximity friendships are a myth – just try harder.
- You’re worthy and deserving of love but also you don’t need men to be interested in you to know that you’re a valuable person. Oh also that’s gonna take a lot of repeating before it sinks in so please call me when you’ve finally accepted this fact.
- Most things are going to be ok. Not everything – I can’t promise you that. But most things.
I love you! Don’t forget to love yourself!
Sincerely,
Lianna “I’m dead serious about that peanut butter thing” Holston