Stop and write about “One moment you experience years ago” if you wish. Or you could [[a mind to meander|go back to where the river begins]]. ---- 2/1/24 Dear Future Annika, Hello, how are you doing? It is so weird to be writing to my future self. I only want you to open this document when you have graduated college and know what you will do for a career. I have so many questions for you, like where did we go to college? Did we travel? How is our family? Do we have any regrets? I am so curious to learn about the future. I hope that we have finished college by now, which one did we pick? My top two right now are MSOE and Carroll University. However, I would not be surprised if I wound up somewhere else. How was college? Did you make some friends? I am super nervous about college right now, and I hope that I get good grades. College seems so scary to me right now, and I am hoping that it turns out not to be so scary. I got rejected by Marquette University today. It does not make much sense to me right now, I have been accepted into MSOE, Carroll University, Concordia University, etc. I was even accepted to Carthage College on a presidential scholarship. Maybe my mom is right, it truly is their loss. Do you still think about this? It seems like a big deal to me right now, but I bet it doesn’t feel like that after you have graduated. Traveling is something that I currently want to do, do you still want to travel? Traveling is something else I have always wanted to do. It would be cool to travel to see the northern lights or go scuba diving on a coral reef. Those are two things on my bucket list right now. Have you done that yet? I doubt it, but you never know! I also have always wanted to write my book as well. Have we even started? I bet college has had you so busy that you were just trying to survive. I understand that. By the time you are out of college, you will be 22, that is crazy to me! I am 17 right now, my birthday is coming up. I bet that you want to know more about what you were like at 17, so I will write about how my day went today for you. It has been a good day today, today is February 1st. My birthday is in 2 days! It is a big birthday too, I will become an adult this weekend. It feels almost unreal. The day I have been dreaming of as a kid is so close. I wonder if I will miss technically being a child. It also kind of feels weird to think about voting and living on my own. I bet now you don't even think twice about heading home to an empty house. That seems so foreign to me. I also got a special lunch today, I got McDonald’s. I have not had that in a while so it was nice to go back. I recently also started to drive more. I have been dropping off Kin at school almost every day. Although that may not seem like a big deal, it is to me. I hate driving right now, do we still feel that way? How are Kin and Abby? Do you still talk to them? I hope you do, they are your siblings. I wonder if Abby and Kin ever did what they wanted to do with their lives. Did Abby become a nurse, and did Kin become a neurosurgeon? It may be too soon to tell still, as this is only 4 years into the future. How did Abby do on the ACT? I know that she is super nervous right now. How did Kin do? I know they will do just fine, probably better than I did! What I hope for them is that they have no regrets in their lives, and they truly deserve the world. Regret is something I think about quite often. I don't have any regrets right now, do you? I want to live a certain life where I never regret anything. No regret is a big statement, because I have heard that most people have regrets. I want to live my life to the fullest, and I hope that is still our goal. How have we done with living our lives? Do you feel accomplished? Who knows where we will be in 4 years, that is a lot of time. I just honestly hope that we are happy, wherever we end up. I have no more questions, or things to say to us. I genuinely hope for the best for us, and I think that we will be successful. I also hope that our siblings are doing well, and our dogs are doing well without us. > Sincerely, > Annika Princer