Erin Edmondson | Emmaus Tribune: A senior's letter to her freshman self

Dear Freshman Erin,

I really shouldn't be writing you. As someone who has read plenty of books and watched tons of movies/tv shows with time travel in them, I'm breaking the most important law of time travel: To not interact with your past self, because it could disrupt the entire space-time continuum. Oh, well. I'm not going to tell you everything anyway, because I don't want to give everything away. Spoilers, you know. (As you can see, you have in fact gotten nerdier over the years, even though you didn't think it was possible.)

I know you're kind of nervous right now. You're excited about college, but since the only people who've ever judged your school-work has been Mom and Dad, you don't know exactly what to expect of college level-work. Don't worry about that. You're going to love it. It won't by any means be easy, but it's going to challenge you, and we both know that you do your best when you're challenged. You're going to learn so much more than you ever thought yourself capable of learning in the next 3 years. Oh, and you're probably wondering why you're still at Emmaus in 3 years, since your plan is to do the one-year program and then move back to Tennessee. Part of that has to do with the fact that you're going to love the education you receive from Emmaus, and the other thing is going to be the basketball team.

That's another thing you're nervous about right now. High school basketball wasn't all that you hoped it would be, and you haven't really played ball for a year, since you graduated early and took a gap year. In fact, you were really surprised when Coach Graw called you and asked if you wanted to play basketball for Emmaus. You also aren't really sure why you said yes, other than that you couldn't think of a reason to say no. But it's going to be your other favorite thing at Emmaus.

You're going to get better at basketball, not because your athletic ability is going to dramatically increase, but because the work ethic you built up playing high school ball is actually going to be effective on this team. Your percentages will never be the best, and you'll never be the player with the most play time. But Coach Graw will reward your efforts and your play time will be of much higher quality. But you have to put your all into it.

And your teammates? You're going to be so like-minded with some of them that you won't even believe it at first. They're going to become your best friends at school. I can't say too much, but there's going to come a time when you have to make a tough decision. You're not going to regret the consequences of that decision; it's going to be a necessary decision. But it's going to be your attachment to the basketball team that's going to make it so difficult. So don't take it for granted, ever.

In the next 3 years, you're going to go places to which you never before had a desire to go (both literally and figuratively) and do things you never knew you wanted to do. It's going to be amazing. You're going to feel tired sometimes and wonder how you can possibly do so much, but you're not going to regret any of it. You won't throw away your shot.

Keep working hard. Take a break every now and then. Follow the Lord's leading, even when your brain tells you it's ridiculous. He's a lot smarter than you, you know.

Sincerely,

     Me (Senior Erin)

P. S. Ezra 7:10