Dear Teen Nikki, Let me tell you a secret, something it’ll take you years to figure out on your own. No one’s perfect. High school wasn’t what you expected. You saw the movies and heard the horror stories about it before you even got there. You were prepared for the…
Tag: Dear Teen Me
Dear teen Tonya, You’re teacher’s pet, you push yourself to get the best grades, you over-extend yourself to help others, and try to be perfect – which isn’t possible, by the way, but that’s for another talk. You are a people pleaser and are used to most people liking you.…
Dear Young Sarah, “YOU KILLED JESUS!” You barely recognized your classmate R’s face when she shouted this at you and your friend Deborah, spittle coming out of her mouth, along with words that made no sense. She was normally quite and gentle. You wondered what had brought about this strange…
Dear Teen Sarah, You thought being called “Horse Hair” in second grade was bad, and it made you want to cut off your waist-length hair. The name made you not want to go to school. It hurt. You only felt better by fourth grade when a new girl came to…
Dear Carrie in a Younger Version, Okay. I know you are probably freaking out about something. You kind of do that. That’s okay. It’s who you are. Deep breaths. And I know you are probably now jumping up and down because a letter from future you is so Doctor Who-esque…
My assignment was to write a letter to my teen self about bullying, but I’m no good at writing letters in general, much less to someone who doesn’t exist anymore, so I think I’ll just tell you a few stories instead. Storytelling is something I can do. When I was…
Dear Teen Me You’ve had it pretty easy so far. Your grades come easy, you have a great group of friends, you don’t have any trouble getting a date, and you usually get what you want. You’re sheltered. But wait—I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, because you’ve been lucky…
Dear Teen Me, I know you have no safe place—not at home being abused, and not at school being bullied. You are an easy target: shy, scared, jumping at touch, not looking people in the eyes—the marks of someone who’s been hurt. You’re afraid all the time. You hate yourself…
Dear Teen Jenny, You don’t see yourself as the type to get bullied. You think you’re pretty damn tough, and maybe you are, physically, anyway. You hit your growth spurt early (although you’re still waiting for a second round of puberty focused only on your boobs), and you’ll always be…
Dear Teen Tara, Writing you this letter is much harder than I imagined it would be. It’s hard because, I’m finally on the other side of it all, but I know that you’re still there. Being bullied, battered, and ignored. Thinking you’re not good enough to occupy your tiny space…
