1.

Write about your current status—related to your career, family, personal life,
health, and friends.
Currently, I am working on earning my Bachelor’s degree in English and
hopefully continue to earn my Masters as well. My father is opening a
business that I’m excited to help out with and I hope to learn many skills
from. My family is everything to me right now, especially with my
grandparents here to visit from Lebanon. Being surrounded by family helps
me focus on my health too. My personal life is a little chaotic right now. I’m
struggling to understand personal matters and deal with the stress that
comes from them. And as for my friends, most of them are in Lebanon. I’ve
been missing them a lot lately, especially around the holidays.

2. Write about your goals and dreams for the future.

My dream for the future is to be happy in life. In any form my happiness
may come, I dream to have it. I want to publish my poetry in the future and
allow people to connect to the things I write about because each work
holds powerful meaning in life. My writing is a reflection of each phase of
my life. Whether it be past, present, or future, everything from my dreams
to my struggles is within my writing. I simply dream of being filled with
happiness and gratitude in the future.

3. Write about your current priorities…what is important to you now?

My current priorities are my studies and health. Remaining focused on my
courses and earning good grades is important to me, along with doing it in
non-stressful ways. I am also currently focused on being healthier both
mentally and physically because this priority essentially targets all other
aspects of my life.

4. Where do you want to be a year from now?

A year from now I hope to be working a valuable job and finishing up my
requirements for the final year of college. I also hope to have finished my
poetry manuscript and submit it to a publisher.

5. What is your desired status in terms of career, personal, emotional, spiritual,

relationships, family, health, and school? What about your level of
contribution to society? What sort of self-image do you desire to have?
 My desired status is to be financially independent and stable. I want to be a
strong individual that tackles any obstacles in life, especially career-wise,
and problem-solve my way out. I have an extremely supportive and loving
family that would never leave my side and are the ones who taught me the
importance of bravery and hard work. As for my personal life, emotionally I
desire to completely love myself and focus on not overthinking so much.
Overthinking causes me anxiety and this leads to many things I desire to
break from like my uncle passing away two years ago, losing many
relationships over the years, and my romantic life as well. I wish to be
successful not only in the art of working but also in tackling my
overbearing mind. Focusing on my dreams and working towards what
makes me happy helps. What also helps me is my Christian Orthodox
religion. Going to church, praying, and leaving my worries in the hands of
God is something I constantly remind myself to do and make it a goal to
continue in the future. I want to contribute to society through my writing
mainly, and just being a human that loves and gives love to anyone who
needs it. There is no bigger contribution than being there for the people
you can be.

What would you include? What would you like to say to yourself on graduation day?
You did this yourself. You are your own hero, supporter, hard worker, and paver in
life. You made it to graduation and deserve to celebrate until you run out of
energy to keep celebrating.

1. Cultivate gratitude in life- and in your letter.

Gratitude is one of the most important characteristics a human should
possess. I was raised to understand that having gratitude is something this
world needs, and especially to feel satisfied and thankful for the life you
have. I have gratitude for many things—my parents and little sister, and the
support they give me in life. I am grateful for my Lebanese culture, allowing
me to have a beautiful identity and country to visit. I am grateful to have the
opportunities I do in life and become whoever I dream to be. I am mostly
grateful though, for my religion, and the peace it gives me to push past all
of the hardships I have faced and will face.
 2. What would you say to your future self? Be kind.
If I could say anything to my future self it would be to never let your
anxious mind control your life. I would tell her to keep reminding herself
that she has power over her mind and its overbearing fears in life. Life is so
much more than what goes on in the mind. And taking control of my
thoughts will be the start of a beautiful life.

3. Give positive affirmations.

The affirmations I could give myself are that I am kind, intelligent,
hardworking, and faithful. I am good to others and a loving person. I am
beautiful inside and out.

4. Show appreciation for your future self…you are your biggest cheerleader.
I appreciate the person I will become in the future, no matter where life
takes me. I know that my future self will only continue to grow and blossom
into someone I dream of and need to be to reach the life I long to have.

5. Who do you want to become? What do you want to remind yourself?

In the career sense, I want to become a writer. In a life-long sense, I dream
of being a mother, as this is one of the hardest things to become in my
opinion. I want to remind myself that just because I am not where my mind
tells me I should be right now, it doesn’t mean I’m in the wrong place. I am
exactly where I need to be so long as I feel that I’m working towards a goal.
I will be in many places before I reach my final destination, and I need to
keep reminding myself that things simply take time and patience.

Think of the principles that guide your life…what do you hope to accomplish? See? Do?
Be ambitions. How will you accomplish these things?

I hope to be successful in life. I started my dreams earlier—that I want to

become a writer and be remembered for my poetry. It is an ambition of mine
to have my writing read by the world. And to accomplish this I just have to
keep working hard. Improving my writing, going through the process of
publication, and making sure I am happy with each step I take.
1. What worries you now?
What worries me now is failing in life. I worry that I won’t be able to
accomplish my dreams.

2. What are your stresses? What causes you anxiety?

My normal stresses are, of course, my studies and building a career.
However, my main stresses are much deeper than this. I stress from the
distance between my family and me—that I am not able to reach my family
in Lebanon so easily. And at my worst anxious times, I feel lonely and wish
to be with them. Loneliness, even though I have my parents and sister near,
is one of my worst sources of anxiety. It isn’t something people around me
have caused, but rather a feeling that’s grown after dealing with distance
for so long.

3. What makes you happy? Who do you spend your time? How do you spend
your time?
What makes me happy are reading, writing, exercising, and being with my
family and friends. I spend most of my time with them. And when I do get
the chance to visit Lebanon, I spend a lot of time with my close friends
there as well. These are the people that bring me the greatest happiness in
life.

4. Who are 5 significant people in your life right now? Why?

Five significant people in my life right now are my mother, father, sister,
aunt, and my friend named Nicolas who lives in Lebanon. These five people
give me the greatest support, love, and happiness I could ever ask for. I
turn to them when I feel down, discouraged, anxious, or any negative
feeling at all. And I go to them when I want to celebrate life to the fullest
extent.

5. Who are your friends?

My number one friend without a doubt, is my sister. As for other friends, I
have my loving group of guy friends in Lebanon who would do anything for
me. And I have my childhood friends Erika and Melissa who also happen to
be my neighbors across the street.
 6. What is your biggest regret?
I am not one to regret things in life as I feel everything happens for a
reason. However, if there is anything close to a regret I have, it would be
that I didn’t visit Lebanon in 2020 as I had originally planned. If I did visit I
could have gotten one last chance to see my uncle Michael before he
passed away. I would have gotten the chance to kiss him and hug him
goodbye one more time, even if I wouldn’t have known it at the time.

7. What are you excited about? What does your ideal life look like to you?
I am excited about the holidays—something soon to come. I am also
excited to finish up the school year and hopefully visit Lebanon in the
summer. An idea of life to me, consists of things that could be considered
mundane. Waking up early and having a coffee hour with my mother,
spending time learning new information about the world, reading novels,
drawing, writing, and having nightly gatherings with my friends and family.
These are my necessities for an ideal life.

8. What book have you read lately? Movie? TV show?

Currently, I am reading the book Kill Switch by Penelope Douglas which is
part of the Devil’s Night series. I haven’t watched any movies lately but I
have started the show The Fall of the House of Usher.

9. What are your professional goals?

My professional goals consist of earning my master's degree, building a
business with my father, and working on publishing my writing with an
agency.

Romantic goals? Intellectual goals? Financial? Spiritual? Personal?

I am a romantic at heart. Most of the books I read are romance, and I tend to
dream of finding a love straight out of the books. However, I am also the type of
person who doesn’t like to sit and wait for things to happen. I want to accomplish
my personal goals, become the best version of myself, and feel independent in
life, all without feeling like I need a romantic partner to get me through it. I want
my love to come when it needs to, not when I want it to.
 10. Give your future self some advice…as if you are talking to a friend… use the
second person.
You don’t have to put the world on your shoulders. And you need to stop
overthinking every decision you make in life. Have some faith in yourself
and remember that it isn’t the end of the world if you make a mistake once
in a while. No one on earth is perfect. And one last thing, don’t assume
people are upset with you all the time if they haven’t said it themselves.
Especially when you know you haven’t wronged anyone. Just live life to the
fullest and be as happy as you can be before time runs out.

What are your hopes? What are your fears? What are the obstacles you have to
overcome? What are your inner resources or strengths?

I think one of the biggest obstacles I have to overcome is my anxious mind. It is a

leading factor for many of my fears, stresses, the grief I experience, and
constantly doubting my capabilities. I hope to overcome this, and I slowly am
doing so even today.

Remind your future self of what you have to offer the world.

I have a heart full of love to offer the world. I love helping others, being there
when they need me, and giving them every ounce of love I have to feel joy and
heal. To me, this is something so beautiful and valuable for a human to offer the
world.

How do you want to be remembered—for what do you want to be remembered?

I want to be remembered as the girl who loved to love. I want my love to be

remembered in everything and everyone I touched. In my writing, in my moments
with people, in playing the piano, in my church. In everything that I am connected
to.

How would you interact with your future self—4 years from now? Give a sample
dialogue.
Younger me: “You know what you’re doing now?”

Older me: “Yeah, I knew all along, I just don’t know what I’m doing in the future
now.”

Younger me: “I thought so. It’s always that self-doubt isn’t it?”

Older me: “You need to remind yourself that without peace of mind, you won’t
know how to do anything in life.”

Younger me: “Why?”

Older me: “Because it all starts within you. When you heal the heart and head
things will become clear. You won’t feel so lost. You won’t worry so much. You
will walk without caring overly. You will simply know the right times to think and
not think. That’s how I am now, and how you will be in four years. You’ll be
happy.”

Find a motivational quote or song to give to your future self. Make a soundtrack for
your life
Quote: “I like the scars because I like the stories. Bravery, stupidity, pain—none
of them come free.” - Jessica Martinez’