Welcome to your letter before you begin your high school career. I am going to give you some advice from my perspective and from my experiences in high school. Hopefully this will help you on your journey to college.

Number one: Get good grades freshman and sophomore year. These will be the easiest years of high school, and getting all A’s (maybe a few B’s) will boost your cummulative GPA, which will help when applying to college. However, do not let schoolwork consume your life, because the most important thing you will do while in high school is figure out who you are as a person. You are so much more than your grades, but I know you can be both an amazing person and get amazing grades.

Number two: Being alone is okay. People get so caught up in the social aspect of school. While this is great most of the time, it is also important to spend time reflecting, bettering, and understanding yourself. Educate yourself on world issues, classic literature, and popular television, and do not get hung up on the things you think you have to like because all of your friends do. Be your own person and experience as much as physically possible in your four years. Knowledge is one thing that no one can take away from you. Learn about other cultures and people and get out of the bubble of existence that is Xavier. These experiences will lead you to find what you love, which will help you determine where you want to go and what you want to do in college.

Number three: Be kind and be yourself. Everyone is trying to live their lives and be successful. If you are hardworking and kind above everything, you will be successful and respected by all. Even if you do not like someone, be cordial (but confrontation is not always a bad thing) and always be a true and real friend to the people who you do like and care about. Do not let others determine who you will be. The paths that Paul, Jackson, Mary, or I have taken, and are taking, are not your paths. Make your own path and be the person you want to be. It was hard at times being one of the first openly gay people at Xavier, but the adversity I faced has made me the person I am today.

Number four: Have fun and embrace the sadness. Never forget to take time to relax, hang out with friends, go on adventures, try something new, or even just read a new book. High school is such a minuscule amount of time in your life. Even though it may seem like eternity while you are in high school, do not sweat the small stuff. Everyone makes mistakes; everyone has those days. Do not be afraid to cry. Sometimes crying helps and can wash away the mistakes of the past. “I am very proud of my sadness because it means I am more alive” (World of Tomorrow).

Number five: High school relationships are dumb and unnecessary. ‘Nuff said.

Finally, number six: Get stuff done early (I say as I’m writing this at midnight the night before it’s due).

You are loved, and I support you in whatever you choose to do. I wish you luck in the upcoming years, and I hope your high school experience will be as friend-filled, fun, intellectually stimulating, and fulfilling as I made mine to be. It is what you make it, and I know you will be the best Esker yet to go through the halls of Xavier (until Anna that is ;)). I leave you with another quote from World of Tomorrow, “Do not lose time on daily trivialities. Do not dwell on petty detail. For all of these things melt away and drift apart within the obscure traffic of time. Live well and live broadly. You are alive and living now. Now is the envy of all of the dead.”

Love, Charlie

Charlie Esker

Backpage Editor