Dear freshman 19-year-old Lizbeth,<\/p>\n
It is November 22, 2017 and you never expected your life to be the way it is right now. You had many paths in mind, always intricate but always worth the trouble. Your dreams were big and your worries were small. But today, on this Wednesday afternoon as you sit in the library doing homework during break (bummer) you can\u2019t help but reflect on the roller coaster of your life.<\/p>\n
A little over a year ago you were so set on going to Iowa State University, eleven months ago you were set on going to the University of Colorado Boulder, nine months ago you were set on going to the University of Minnesota, and then in April you made the ultimate decision to attend the University of Iowa. You, out of everyone, should know by now that life never goes as planned so quit trying to pencil everything into your planner. It\u2019s complicated, things pop up, situations occur, you lose people and you gain people. . . but in the end, everything happened exactly the way it was meant to happen. All the puzzle pieces fit, all the paths make sense.<\/p>\n
It was a rocky start, but you pulled through \u2013 just the way you always do. If things change again, I want to remind you that IT\u2019S OKAY! Do not set a concrete plan in your head, because when it changes you\u2019ll be disappointed. Instead, focus on each day as they pass by and continue to keep those around you close. You\u2019ve got such good people in your life, don\u2019t let them slip away. Coming to Iowa not only gave you life-long friends, but sisters too. Be grateful because you never would\u2019ve met them if you stayed home. They\u2019re all so good to you. Don\u2019t forget to tell them daily how much you love them just as they always remind you.<\/p>\n
However, stuff is going to happen to you. The hurt, failures, and heartbreaks aren\u2019t over yet. As a matter of fact, they\u2019re just beginning. But you\u2019ve pulled through it in the past, and you\u2019ll continue to pull through it in the future. Do not let the failed relationship, bad exam grade, or homesickness hold you back. Take all of that and use it as motivation to keep chugging along. You\u2019re unstoppable girl. Always remember that.<\/p>\n
I know you miss the Lizbeth that shrugged problems off and always knew what she was doing. She misses you too. To meet her again, you must slow down from time to time. It\u2019s okay to say \u201cscrew it\u201d every now and then. Go do something you love. Stay an extra five minutes in the sauna, go buy one more coffee, sleep in a little longer. Taking one day off isn\u2019t prohibited. Just be smart about it when you do it.<\/p>\n
Even though I want you to have more answers than you do questions, don\u2019t quit asking them. At the same time don\u2019t overthink everything. Don\u2019t wait around for that over-due apology, that invitation to talk, or explanations to past situations. Let it go, because I can assure you that they already did.<\/p>\n
I also know you\u2019re struggling with the thought of transferring and changing your major. Don\u2019t. I know it\u2019s hard, I know the workload is insane, and I know that there\u2019s an easy way out to all of this. But let me ask you this: when has taking the easy way out led you closer to your goals? Psychiatry is a pain in the butt, all the sciences and maths are hard when all you want to do is go out and have fun. However, you\u2019ll be thanking yourself profusely in six to eight years when you\u2019re doing what you love. Stick with it. And Lizbeth. . . don\u2019t leave Iowa City. I know that a lot of your friends who left Sioux County are transferring back. Don\u2019t follow the trend. Stick with the decision you made. Being home feels good, but when will you ever leave if you don\u2019t leave now?<\/p>\n
Most importantly, I want you to know that you are thriving. You\u2019ve accomplished more than you give yourself credit for. The new reality of life is that it\u2019s always going to be messy \u2013 but that\u2019s okay because you\u2019re handling it. Quit being so hard on yourself girl. You\u2019re doing everything you\u2019re supposed to be doing. I am so proud of you.<\/p>\n
You got this.<\/p>\n
Love,<\/p>\n
Lizbeth xoxo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear freshman 19-year-old Lizbeth, It is November 22, 2017 and you never expected your life to be the way it is right now. You had many paths in mind, always intricate but always worth the trouble. Your dreams were big and your worries were small. But today, on this Wednesday afternoon as you sit in … Continue reading A Letter To Myself<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/lizbeth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/lizbeth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/lizbeth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/lizbeth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/93"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/lizbeth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/lizbeth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115,"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/lizbeth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114\/revisions\/115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/lizbeth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/lizbeth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/lizbeth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}