Dear 50 year old me,

I hope you get this e-mail in the future and hopefully these words don't get lost in cyberspace (if cyberspace still exists!). If you do actually get this e-mail, how are you? I hope you’re doing well. How has your life been going? I have so many questions for you because I don’t know if I’m ever going to get a chance to send you a letter after this, so please bear with me. Is being a fifty year old as boring as I imagined it to be? I’m just kidding. I’m pretty sure you’ve lived an interesting life filled with great memories, and I bet you still are! Are you keeping an eye on your health? Because I know that I tend to get lazy, especially as I grow older, and I really don’t want you to let yourself go because being healthy is crucial at your age. Do I still have a short temper and no patience whatsoever? Because I’m still struggling to contain it all in me and sometimes I accidentally lose it in front of people. Do you learn anything new or develop any new skills? Has anything interesting happened or is happening in your life? I’d also like to ask about your social life, because people always tell me that you lose most of the friends you make in school. So are you still friends with anyone at AIS-R? Hopefully you are, because I’d hate to hear that you’ve lost contact with them. And finally, do Donald Trump and Kanye West ever become presidents of the United States?

My life until now has been going well. I’m in my second year of highschool and I’m halfway done with it. I need to start thinking about IB and what high level and standard level classes I should take. IB is a big step that I want to take, but I’m scared that I might not do well in my classes and managing my time. I'm afraid that getting bad grades will affect my GPA tremendously, thus limiting my university choices and ruining my entire future. I’m also scared that deciding to take full IB might ruin my social life, because studying would take up so much of my time I won’t be able to spend time with friends and family. As you can see, I’m shaking of fear and sweating like a pig because of how worried I am about my future. So I wanted to ask you, how did you deal with all the stress and fear that came with IB? And what advice would you give me?

Best regards,
Your 15 year-old self.

Dear 15 year-old me,

Thankfully, your email did not get lost in cyberspace. Yes, I still use email. It’s only because I’m too lazy to learn how to use whatever kids are using these days. My life has been going very well thank you for asking. As you know I’m fifty years old at the moment and life couldn’t be any better! Even though I’m fifty, people have told me that I don’t look a day over forty because of how well I’ve been taking care of myself. I started eating healthier because I realized how all the processed foods have been hurting my body and health. I also started to exercise more often, and I think you should start to exercise too so that you could make it easier for me to maintain a healthy lifestyle now. I also did start to control my anger better and I started to become more patient, especially after having three children. Having children really has challenged me to control my anger because I wanted them to see me as a good role model, and also because I didn’t want my anger to dictate my decisions in life. So, I learned to suppress it. As for my patience, I guess it increased after I got children since I forcibly had to tolerate them for many years. In the 35 years between our times, I have gained so many experience in my life and I’ve learned from all of them. Both, the good and the bad. I’ve learned that losing a person isn’t always a bad thing because letting them go hurts less than having them in your life. Another thing I’ve learned is that the people around you shouldn’t force you to change your personality or your morals. Just be confident with yourself and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. I’ve also learned that life never goes to plan, and that’s normal, you just have to adapt to whatever situation you’re in at any point of your life. My life is filled with great and interesting events and I don’t want to ruin them for you, but all I can say is just enjoy your life and make the best of it. I am in touch with some people from AIS-R, but not many. I don’t want you to worry about it because it was bound to happen anyways, especially because people from AIS-R came from different parts the world. Of course it’s sad because you won’t be able to see the people you used to see five times a day anymore, but just be thankful that you got know these wonderful people and got to experience a lot with them. As for Donald Trump and Kanye West being presidents, you’ll just have to wait and find out.

I know exactly how worried and scared you feel because of IB, because I am you from the future, and it's okay to be nervous. I’m not going to lie to you IB was one of the most challenging years of my life, but they were also one of the best years of my life. I got know more about myself and the world around me, and it also helped me decide which path I wanted to take in terms of my career. Don’t worry about not getting the best grade, because I know you worry about that a lot. Just try your best and you will succeed. If you try your best and give it your all and still get a bad grade that’s okay, because you know you did the best you could and you should be proud with whatever mark you get on that exam or paper. But if you don’t try your best then that is when you should be disappointed in yourself , even if you get an A+ in HL biology. You shouldn’t care about your grade as much as you should about the effort and dedication you put into getting that grade. Also, if you ever get a bad grade on a paper or exam you worked so hard on, that’s okay. Failing is part of life so don’t let it beat you down. You should get right back up and try again until you succeed, because persistence is the key to success. I know it might seem that your grades are the most important thing in the world right now, but they're not. I know you might think I’m crazy because you think that your grades will determine your entire future, but trust me, they won’t. When you grow older you’ll realize that there are much more important things in your life than your science grade. As for spending time with friends and family, I’m just going to be honest with you. As usual, school will always be your first priority so you won’t have much time to spend with family and friends. Your family will understand, of course, and you’ll never lose them because they’re always there for you no matter the circumstances. But it’s different when it comes to your friends. I don’t want to tell you who you’ll lose and who will still be there for you because that’s for you to find out later in your life. But for now, all I can tell you is this. Throughout your life you'll meet new people, but at the same time you'll lose others. Don’t be sad that it's over, be happy that it happened. Life is a rollercoaster filled with lessons. You chose whether or not to learn from it.

Best of wishes,
Your older self.