Dear Rachel

What a great idea!

Dear 20-year old Rachel,

So hey, yeah, college is awesome, right? And London? That was a great decision. Way to not stress about everything that was swarming around you back in Texas, and good job on going to all those theater shows with your grocery money. It was totally worth it.

Maybe try to pay a little more attention to things in general though. I mean, you're crazy smart and good at school, but...how do I say this nicely...you're really lazy about it sometimes. Your college is full of amazing people and events and guest speakers, and you should really, really take more advantage of that. Also, it's not such a bad thing to get passionate about a cause, or take sides on things. I know conflict makes you a bit uncomfortable, but some things are definitely worth having an opinion on, even if it makes you and some other people a bit uneasy. You are a procratinator by nature, but you will save yourself SO MUCH STRESS if you would just start on those papers (and especially that senior thesis project) just a little sooner than you'd like to.

And those girls you're hanging out with? For the most part, they are some of the best friends you will ever have. You should thank your lucky stars that 18-year old you got assigned to that particular freshman hall. The sorority thing is probably not all it seems cracked up to be, alas. I mean, those girls are awesome too, but let's be honest - your heart really isn't into it, is it? I'm not saying you should drop out or anything, but think about what else you could be doing with that $75 a month.

Speaking of money, way to not have a credit card yet, that is a good move. Although, seriously: you have no concept of managing money in any kind of real way. That's going to suck in a few years when you do get a credit card, and aren't as good as you should be about paying off the balance. I know stuff happens and you DO really like shopping a lot (and you don't get expensive stuff), but you're going to be paying on those student loans and things for a really long time, and if you go ahead and skip all the credit card debt, you're going to be a much happier person for it.

Also, maybe you should think about taking some ballet classes again. I know you thought you were done with that after high school, but if you really think about it, you don't like working out at all besides dancing. So while you're in great shape now (seriously, even your stomach), it will be really good for your muscles and such in the long-term to just go ahead and keep up with that.

Your twenties are pretty much going to be great, so don't forget to enjoy them. 30-year old you would definitely do it all over again, which is certainly not something you would agree to now if you were asked to relive 10-20 or so. Mostly just the junior high and high school part though, right? Anywho, you're going to get to see and do a lot of amazing stuff, and while you will occasionally wonder if things would have turned out differently if you had made different decisions, I think we both can agree everything is going to go (went) exactly as it should have.

Best,

30-year old Rachel