a letter to my first-year self — Jenny Labovitz
Dear Jenny,
You’re really going to grow up in the next four years. You already know this — you’ve always been independent. That’s why you wanted to move to New York and why you were always “just so over high school.” You’re ready.
You think this growth will mainly just be in figuring out what’s truly important to you, and that will happen (hint: Judaism, reciprocated friendships, chai lattes), and you will lay the groundwork for more of that lifelong journey of discovery.
I can’t wait, however, for you to experience the real growth of the next four years: the power in taking the responsibility to create the life you envision for yourself based on what you discover is important to you. Not only will you be able to do that now, you’ll have to.
You’ll learn to start turning your phone off for 25 hours every week and love it. You’ll fall in love with a career Sophomore year and work your butt off for it the rest of college. You’ll want to bring some family traditions to school, so you’ll host Passover seder with your best friends (the 10 plagues finger puppets will be a hit). You’ll learn to meal prep and voluntarily eat quinoa. You’ll even play varsity Quidditch, because why not.
You’ll go on life-changing trips, during which you’ll intern abroad and cry at the Kotel (you’ll cry every time you go, by the way, and it will be a lot of times). You’ll find friends to play soccer, basketball, football, and softball with. You’ll decide you want to eat Shabbat dinner with friends, and next thing you know you’re cooking for 15 people who definitely will not fit at your table (it gets weird, but you make it work). You’ll sign a lease and move a little further from campus than you’d like, but make the space your own — and learn that just hanging up an Israeli flag isn’t really enough “decoration” for a bedroom.
You’ll find so many people and values that will become part of your identity and that will feel really fulfilling. And, slowly, you’ll see how every decision you make allows you to live a life enriched by those people and values. You’ll manage to actually make it happen. I’m excited for you to reexamine what’s important to you, but even more so for you to actually use that to inform your decisions about how to live.
The growth and responsibility you’re about to experience is more than making your own doctor appointments or adjusting academically to college. You’re going to truly live the life you’ve imagined for yourself and fearlessly fight for it. And it will make you so, so happy.
Love,
Jenny
Jenny is a senior in Steinhardt studying Media, Culture, and Communications.
