Dear Future Self,
Man, I can’t believe it is June 2024. Put down the basketball and take a seat. As there is a lot I wanted to talk to you about, it’s best you relax for a bit. I bet you were playing basketball or playing your Xbox, so there’s no loss there. Look what we have accomplished in the last 4 years. Freehold Boro High School, what an impact you have had. We were accepted into a Culinary Program that we could not even dream about if we were asked years ago. Then again, we have huge dreams of owning our own restaurant. This was the first step we needed to take to get there. Our path though has not been pretty but lesson learning for sure.
When you first started high school, there was that COVID pandemic. There were students wearing masks, Zoom was used for computer meetings for classes, and shortened schedules (which everyone loved, by the way.) While you were in school masked up, you had to be careful where you walked because if you didn’t follow the arrows on the floor leading to your class, you would have to quickly reroute and find your way back. Talk about some panicked moments there. The number of students you saw in school versus at home was tremendously low. How we missed the experiences of walking to classes, talking to people, and hearing a teacher’s voice live, not on a computer. Then again, there are some classes that I bet some students were glad were remote.
Your second year of high school was interesting. Halls were back to being crowded, no arrows on the floor, but we still wore masks looking like anime characters. You got to see a whole bunch of new people. Different from who you saw last year. To say it was life altering going from being home learning knife cuts and culinary practices from your own kitchen to being in a professional kitchen at school was quite eye opening. The things we learned in culinary were amazing. We had the opportunity to expand our minds when it came to baking anything from cookies to breads and muffins. To think we could make cookies in other ways than just out of a Pillsbury tub. And heck, bread is more than just something out of the supermarket aisle. We learned a lot of different things, but more importantly we learned a lot more about ourselves. We might not be a part of the football or baseball team. However, nothing beats the team in the Five Star Café. Nothing, though, beats what is to come your junior year.
Junior year was filled with its ups and down. The main thing that I’ll remember is being the first Freehold Boro student to get an internship at Chick Fil A. Holy cow, what an experience. Nothing widens your eyes like working an actual job and learning all the different parts that help a company make money. You’ll see the impact that this will have, you just won’t realize it until after the fact. Don’t worry, it will be amazing. The funny thing about junior year is that the light at the end of the high school tunnel starts to gain more focus. The where, the what, the why all start to form complete images. It’ll make sense, I promise.
When you go through high school, you complain and curse out everything that is thrown at you and want to get out of school so fast. Yet, when senior year strolls around, trepidation, tentativeness, and time come into play. Some students already mapped out their next steps and college paths. While yours truly had the vision, I was stuck in a rut. The mere thought of losing friends who go to other colleges and having to learn a new environment (without masks, thank goodness,) played a huge part in various panic and worry. Listen to your parents, because they have been through that ringer they talk about so much. As you hear our name called to go collect the diploma and shake the hands of people (that while you disagreed with a lot,) had your best interest in mind, know that when you write your letter to your future self that the experiences you encounter will be extraordinary.
