It’s a Sage Creek tradition to have students write letters to their future selves as freshmen. Then, the English department holds onto these letters and delivers them to graduating seniors a couple of weeks before they start a new chapter in their lives. 

I was so excited to receive my letter and hear from the girl that I have changed so drastically from. Who were her friends? What were her dreams? Who did she want me to be now…did I make her proud?

The day after I took my grueling AP Literature exam, my teacher, Mrs. Mandal, handed me the coveted letter. I ripped it open with eagerness and excitement and started reading voraciously. Within five minutes, I stood up, crumpled the paper, and threw it in the recycling bin.

I was furious. 

My letter was solely about how stressed I was. How unhappy I was because I expected so much from myself. 

“I should be studying right now instead of writing this stupid letter.” 

“Hopefully, I did a good job of studying so you can enjoy your senior year.”

On and on. Nothing about my friends, my family, the dog I had to say goodbye to this year, whom I miss so much. Nothing about what actually mattered. 

When I look back on my freshman year, I see such good memories. Meeting my best friends, my first boyfriend, driving a car for the first time, and meeting the teachers who made me feel safe on campus and loved. I genuinely barely remember stressing for tests, cramming on homework, or worrying about how many tardies I had. Of course, those memories are in my brain, but they aren’t the important ones. 

The important memories are the ones that make me smile. The ones I reminisce about and was so eager to read about. 

I joined “The Sage” in my sophomore year here. I’ve been the recipient of numerous national awards, Editor-in-Chief for two years running, and attended journalism academies in New York for two summers, so it’s safe to say I’ve done my fair share of work for student journalism.

But even now, I don’t look back and think about the nights I stared at a screen and rewrote an article over and over until it sucked a little less. I don’t think about cramming to make my deadline, or crying from the stress of being a leader, and questioning every decision I made. 

I think about running from person to person and interviewing them about their lives. I think about taking photos at protests and rallies, interviewing change-makers, and writing articles that I felt could truly make a difference. 

Even when writing this letter, I won’t consider the fact that this is my second draft, but instead, I will remember how proud (hopefully) my grandma and parents will be of reading it.

I think about the greatest accomplishments in my life, and they aren’t awards or accolades–they’re people.

When I was first told that another student looked up to me. 

That’s my proudest moment: realizing that I could inspire someone else to make a difference.

I’ll never know what my freshman self was thinking when she wrote that letter four years ago. I’ll never know if she was happy at that moment or realized how grateful she should be for the people in her life. I do know now that she would be proud of the person I am today. Maybe for some superficial reason like the awards or the college I’m going to in the fall, but hopefully also for the good things I’ve done. 

To you, the students at Sage Creek High School, consider this for however long you have left here: the things you look back on will not be the moments of distress or hardship. They will be the moments of laughter and happiness. However, to be truly grateful for the good times, you must first endure the hard ones. There are going to be bad days. It’s high school, things are difficult for one million different reasons. But on those hard days, know that they’re all so that you can look back and hopefully be proud of the person you’ve worked so hard to become. 

To the class of 2025: I hope you take the gratitude that Sage Creek has given you, whether in small portions or large amounts, and thank the people who have supported you along the way. If no one comes to mind at the moment, then take time to thank yourself. 

Because after all of this time, we’re the ones who stayed up late studying and woke up early for school. We applied to college, the military, and trade school; we joined clubs, passed and failed tests, spent hours on finals, and we’ve carried ourselves through this journey. 

Be thankful for the people who have shaped you, but also be thankful for the person they shaped. If I’ve learned anything, it would be that your voice is so much louder with a crowd than with just one person. 

Thank you, and for the final time, this has been Georgia Scherrer for the Sage.