Letter to my high school self: Greg Borish

Dear High School Greg,

I don’t know when in high school you are receiving this letter, but if it is during your first two and a half years, yikes. I know you are struggling, but please know that things are going to get better in the near future. You are soon going to become more comfortable with yourself, find a solid friend group and fall in love with a wonderful young woman. You are also going to get much happier when you leave the dark, rainy climate of Seattle.

Academically, I know you hate school and hate your schoolwork, but you are building good habits and study skills that will help you for your entire life. You will never regret trying your best. If you keep working hard, you are going to get to attend your dream college (and grad school), love your four years there and go on to have a wonderful, fulfilling career. I know how painful it is to spend your whole afternoon/evening doing your homework but you will be so thankful you did in the future. College is going to be a LOT harder than high school, but you will be well prepared because of your work ethic and how much you learned in high school. Continue to explore and you will soon discover new interests beyond math in physics, economics (by the way, you are right about Google being a great company), music, programming and even cooking (remember when you were so bad that you almost started a fire trying to boil broccoli?)

Outside of school, just have fun and be respectful of others. Try to write down some of your best stories – there are a lot of hilarious things that happen that you are going to forget down the road. Enjoy your time in high school baseball even though your coach sucks. You will play sports for the rest of your life, but this experience is as good as it ever gets. Hopefully, you know by now that you are not destined for MLB. Don’t worry about peer pressure and what others think of you. Even though some people will make fun of you for listening to weird music and not going to their parties, stay true to yourself and do what makes you happy. Most of those kids are going to be burnouts and Metallica kicks butt. Cherish your time with your friends! It will never be the same after you all move to different cities.

The best advice I can give is to stay true to yourself, keep working hard, respect other people, and be honest to everyone (this will also help when you get pulled over by the cops). Finally, stop staying up so late. You are going to feel so much happier and healthier as soon as you start getting 8-9 hours of sleep at night.

 

-GB

 

PS – sorry about the Mariners. They suck now and are going to suck for the rest of your life. Save yourself some heartache and focus on the Seahawks.