Dear freshman Paolo,

It’s your first day of high school.

Right now you’re separated from your friends in middle school because you decided to take pre-AP classes and take the ambitious route. That route didn’t work so well. Right now you’re hanging out with people who are just as lost as you. That’s okay. You’re going to find yourself being lonely and depressed, but you’ll endure it and find your way out of that state. Don’t be afraid to make new friends for the next four years. You will meet many of the greatest people and lose some of the not-so-greatest people. Some people you lost touch with will find their way back to you somehow. Those are one of the greatest friendships. Don’t worry about that bad haircut you have going on right now. You get plenty of those throughout the years. Mom gets better at cutting your hair, if you want some good news. Some other good news is that you pass all your classes, but you start getting super lazy and putting play time before work. Don’t do that. Anyways, everything will work out, kid. That’s all I have to say to you for now.