letter to Chatz

Anna,

One of the reasons I like you so much is the way that you are able to verbalize and rationalize how it's OK that sometimes life sucks. My friend Sierra once called me up and was complaining that she feels like college was a waste, that she didn't learn anything, that she wasted four years of her life and her parents' money, that she has learned so much more in the "real world" than at UCSD, etc. I found myself channeling ANNA KATZ and talking about how sometimes it's not the actual product that counts, but the experiences that came along with it.

I remember all the times when I was at school (and oh, in my apartment last month) and feeling bad about not fitting in, or feeling like I was missing something, or that the grass was greener on some other campus, or that I had no idea what I wanted to become. And I would call you up, and you would give me sage advice because you had gone through that phase just days prior, and had already figured out the answer. Not the solution, but how to understand that being confused was the first step towards figuring stuff out. Because now that I knew what was bothering me, I could realize that everyone else deals with the same problems and insecurities, and that's OK.

Could this letter be any sappier? Recently, I was thinking about Thanksgiving, and how instead of putting up a post about what I am thankful for, I thought I would make a list of all my friends and put what they should be thankful for, stuff that maybe they don't realize or value about themselves. So Anna, this Thanksgiving, be thankful that you helped me through my teens and over the hump into my early twenties.

I love you,
me