Quentin is a graduating HS Senior going to Uconn. This is a collection of thoughts he would like to share with a younger version of himself prior to entering High School.
Dear Young Q,
There’s so much I want to say to you. I’ll start off in the world of sports. You will gain nothing from spending countless hours on Xbox day after day every summer. No matter how fun FIFA is, you’ll ultimately gain nothing. Go out with your friends, play basketball with them, play soccer, throw the frisbee around; just get out of the house! As a high school graduate I can tell you that the only things I remember are the meaningful times I had with my friends, not how good I am at FIFA, or what I accomplished by playing more than 6 hours of video games everyday every summer. All you will remember and want to go back to are those random and awesome times you had with your close friends.
For sports, you can use the time you’re not playing video games to practice and get better, or even develop a routine at the gym. It’s not too early to start running and going to the gym to build your body, if you stick to it year after year after a while you’ll see incredible results; it will not happen over night. The best part of being a growing kid is how much energy you have, use that energy to find out which sports you truly love, and once you find them never let them go and play them with all your heart. Now I’ll move on to school.
For school, young Q, don’t be a fool. It’s not cool to skate by and get slightly above average grades by doing minimal work. What’s cool is getting amazing grades so you can literally go to any college you want to with scholarships. That’s what can open doors to the rest of your life. Life does exist past high school, and it’s never too early to think about your future. Take every opportunity to learn whatever you can, because no one can ever take away or deny your raw intelligence. Develop good study habits now, and build off of them as you grow and mature. When you’re older and about to start college you will be at a significant disadvantage if you don’t begin to advance your study habits now. Another thing, you’ve got to stop procrastinating. Procrastination will literally get you nothing but more stress and misery, and will hinder growth in every area of your life. Do things as soon as they are presented to you, not after you’ve wasted several hours doing nothing. Next I’ll talk to you about social behavior.
Nothing will test your patience and love like close friends. There will be times when you guys are so fired up that you hang out every day; but there will also be times when you schedule something and no one goes or even responds. Young Q, I want to encourage you to love everyone, especially those closest to you, deeply. Don’t take anyone or any situation for granted. Youth really does go by in a flash, and before you know it your future will be in the past. Life passes in the blink of an eye, don’t let time pass you by, hold on to meaningful friends and relationships, and let go of anything that drags you down or makes you feel anything less than special. Also, talk to everyone. Give everyone a chance. Never judge a book by its cover. You will make friends with people you can never imagine, you never know who you’ll click with, you never know who could be your new best friend. Everyone has something to offer. Lastly I will move on to spiritual stuff.
Q, I know you think the church of Christ and it’s disciples are just a bunch of rule following boring people who want to trap you into studying the Bible, but none of that is true. The church is full of people who genuinely love everyone regardless of anything people are going through or what they are feeling. The people in the church strive to better themselves everyday, and simply enjoy being alive. People who are actually happy and content are a rare sight in the world we live in today, which makes the church that much more special. Give the church a chance, if you let them into your life while you’re young it will save you from so much pain later in life. In conclusion, love everyone and everything will all your heart, try your very best in school, get off Xbox, and love God!
