Dear younger me, I promise it will get better. By Tamara Garcia by Tamara

Dear younger me, I promise it will get better. By Tamara Garcia by Tamara - July 2025 Scholarship Essay

I always felt like I didn't fit in anywhere growing up. I was the kind of kid who would rather do their schoolwork on their own than with a partner or in groups. Back in elementary school I would often go somewhere isolated to read or draw instead of playing outside with the other kids. I would spend countless hours rummaging through books in the school library, or endlessly dragging a pencil or crayon across a notepad until my so-called "artwork" looked just right. Through most of my childhood, I was the shy, quiet kid who almost never spoke up unless they had their hand raised. I was also the overly nice kid, which was actually me being unable to say no or even stand up for myself. Even though I tried surrounding myself with all kinds of people, even those who were quiet and awkward like me, I still felt like I was alone. I thought that I was going to stay like that forever, but even today, younger me would be astonished to see how much I've changed since then.

A piece of advice I would give to my younger self is to never give up, no matter how hard it gets. Even when nobody used to take me seriously, I should always trust in God to get me out of anything that I can't handle. That's what my parents and people of my religious background used to tell me, but sometimes I felt like God wasn't on my side, as if I've done something that might have upset him without knowing. As a kid I used to think the world was against me, that everyone and everything was keeping me from pursuing my hopes and dreams. I remember when I was feeling hopeless for such a long time. Truth is, the only thing that prevented me from doing anything was actually, believe it or not, myself.

By the time I was close to finishing high school, I realized that I still had time to change for the better. It was within those last months that I had taught myself to create meaningful interactions with my peers and teachers, and to value those people who already welcomed me into their circle of friends and loved ones. Seeing how easy it was to find a new sense of belonging by simply allowing myself to come out of my comfort zone and be social when it made me feel uneasy, I decided that I was going to do the same thing and be that friendly person who speaks up for those who can't speak for themselves. I would be the one who starts the conversation, the one who invites those who are lonely to the table, I want to be someone who can be relied on by many people. Creating this new version of me has helped me in many ways when I first entered college. Because of it I became much more outgoing than ever, I managed to make a lot more friends than I have before, as well as be more active on campus and in my community, which I highly recommend first year students to do. I may be a couple of years away from finishing college right now, but everything I did to improve myself was worth it, and I know younger me would be proud because I just know that everything is going to be better from now on.