Hey, I told you I'll come back.

So senior year is around the corner, right?

I'm guessing you are anxious about college, scholarships, and jobs after you graduate from high school. I remember you were most worried about was being successful.

I was wondering the other day about a contest. Do you remember entering an art contest? I think it was around Spring and you were still a junior back then. You wrote this poem about how everything around you was beautiful from lakes to mountains to our inner beauty (because you use a clipart of a little girl playing dress up as your visual art piece.) You thought you were going to win 1st place and be recognized by the whole school, then your friends would shower you with continuous compliments on how good your writing was. Sadly, you didn't win--you didn't even got placed--but instead received a certificate of participation.

It wasn't 1st place, but it something to set you up for what is coming for you. Most of them will placed you in last place.

Don't think of this as a bad thing! Okay, it is bad but failure is a learning process.

You may think failure is a reminder of what you are not good at, to a point. It can also be a learning process because, if you want to continue creating, it will help you think: what can I do better?

Your friends will achieve great things like being a featured reader at one of the poetry readings or winning award after award for a collection of photos they put together. They will be praised for their hard work, so will you.

Why? You have built your own success.

It's true! Lately, you have been doing well. You made your first chapbook for Capstone and was successful for family and friends. One of your poems is featured in your university's BODYlogues, a show about body positivity. You and another great poet were the opening acts for another university production, Vagina Monologue. What is Vagina Monologue? You'll find out once you get into Southern Oregon University. Oh! You got not one but two poems published on various literary magazines! One of them was an online lit magazine in Canada. CANADA. Who would've thought your work will be published in a Canadian magazine, right? Your second poem was published in SOU Student Press' first volume of Main Squeeze. Plus, you recently got 4th place at SOU Poetry Slam For CUPSI. You were so close! Aside from writing, you performed at SOU's drag show, Winter's A Drag, as Danny DAMN. Let's just say you had a standing ovation.

Sure, it wasn't a trophy or something gold you expected it to be. But those successes were your golden trophies. So Asela, this letter is letting you know though there will be bumps, you will find a way to bring your success while still cheering on friends who need support too. Now, grab that certificate of participation and wave it like a flag. Keep working hard to what you want to achieve, but at the same time give yourself a break. We all can't be Wonder Woman level. Let's all about practice and managing your time to follow your dreams and finish watching that series you tried to see. And don't forget: you have family and friends who will support you and love you, no matter how big or small your achievements will be. So before you rush and apply for scholarships or write your next great story, remember that failure can help you bring great success. Be proud of your little successes because they may lead you to something grand. And don't stop, either.

Happy Birthday, Asela.

Signed,

Your college self