Dear 6 year old me,

  It’s 16 year old you I’m here to talk to you and tell you about all the incredible things you will do. Over the next ten years you figure out who you are and who you want to be. You will go through a lot of changes and learn who your real friends are. 

  First things first, we don’t live in Marlton anymore. In January 2013 we moved to Voorhees and that’s where we spent most of our childhood. We attended Signal Hill Elementary, Voorhees Middle School, and now, Eastern High School. Over the years that we’ve lived in Voorhees we’ve done a lot. We got really into theater and cheerleading. Don’t worry music is still a huge part of our lives and we still love One Direction and Taylor Swift. 

  You’re gonna make and lose a lot of friends over the years but eventually you’ll find your group. I can confidently say that they are crazy and menaces but none the less they are absolutely our best friends. Something that I’ve learned is that it’s better to have a close small group of friends rather than a large not so close group of friends. 

  Elementary school is alright. We make and lose friends but one person does stick around. The person that sits next to you all of fourth grade, he is still one of your closest friends. Also in fifth grade we finally get to be a safety then it’s off to middle school. 

  Middle school wasn’t that easy. Sixth grade I had great teachers and I joined the drama club, but I also came out. I came out as bisexual and four years later it just makes sense. Seventh grade I had pretty good teachers as well but in March we went into quarantine due to a global pandemic. Eighth grade was completely online and that was really hard but we made it all the way to freshman year. In eighth grade we also started cheerleading again. 

  Freshman year was a lot less scary than I thought it would be. I joined stage crew, dyed my hair quite a few times and met some friends that’ll last a lifetime. We got really close to some seniors so seeing them graduate was really hard and our mental health became a struggle but we never failed to put up a really good fight. We also call it quits on cheer for the last time which is a hard goodbye but it was for the best.

  Something that I think you’ll be pleased to hear is that we’ve been to a few concerts including Sabrina Carpenter, Louis Tomlinson, and 5 Seconds of Summer. You might be asking how we went to a Louis concert without the rest of One Direction, I should tell you that they broke up a few years back. 

  Now here we are, sophomore year. It’s January and so far this year we’ve dyed our hair twice, took the PSATs, started to figure out what we want to major in, picked our classes for junior year, and of course hung out with friends. Also very important, since we’re 16 we can drive, in November we got our learners permit and our test for our license got scheduled. 

  Over these past ten years I’ve learned a lot, about myself, about the world, just in general. One thing however that has always stuck with me is that everything happens for a reason. All of the choices that you make are going to impact you no matter what whether it’s good or bad. So just live, don’t worry so much about the future because we’re doing alright.

Until next time, 16 year old you.