Right where you are, write where you'll be

By Cindy Landrum  

APRIL 19, 2012 11:21 a.m. (1)

After reading a book of letters written to their former teenage selves by celebrities such as musician Alice Cooper, actress Kathleen Turner, Marvel Comics CEO Stan Lee and author Stephen King, Greenville high school student Hannah McKeel wondered what those letters would have said if the timeline had been reversed.

The writers in Joseph Galliano’s book, “Dear Me: A Letter to My Sixteen-Year-Old Self,” looked back on life from adulthood. McKeel thought it would be interesting if teenagers “could write letters of advice to our future selves.” Letters that said, “This is where I see you going in the future.”

So McKeel, a 16-year-old who attends Greenville Tech Charter High, started the “Dear Future Me Project.”

The project, which is barely two weeks old, asks youth living in the United States and across the world to put their dreams, passions and where they see themselves in the future onto paper – in a letter, a poem, a rap or a song.

“The message is to don’t ever put your dreams and passions on the back burner (in order) to lead a more normal life,” McKeel said. “This project is really a snapshot of the aspirations of a generation.”

Some of the letters will end up in a book that McKeel hopes to publish before she graduates from high school.

“Teens all have dreams and passions, no matter what their economic status or ethnicity or even the country in which they live,” McKeel said. “This generation has so much potential and my goal is to ignite the ambition and passion inside every person.”

The dreams and ambitions of the teens who have submitted letters so far are varied.

One letter begins, “Throw away that bag of BBQ chips and renew your gym membership. Now that we have that out of the way, I have some things to say.”

The writer goes on to tell herself to remember the girl composing the letter.

“Remember that flighty, yet ambitious girl sitting in her room writing this. Remember your passion, your love for others and especially your love for travel… Hang on to those things. Those are the things that keep us young.”

In his letter to himself, one writer called Haseeb tells himself not to listen to those people who want him to have a stable career instead of following his dreams.

“Haseeb, I just want you to know that if you are not happy with what you are doing with life, quit whatever you are right now and think of the past. Think of your own dreams and go and follow them,” he wrote. “It’s never too late.”

Another teenager wrote, “I hope that every comment about how your dreams were unrealistic and how your chances were one in a million or that you needed a ‘back-up plan’ had an effect on you – but in the opposite way they were meant to.”

Another letter writer had a more simple thought.

“I hope you still love penguins and tea.”

McKeel said she wants to major in elementary education, work with children and travel so she can experience different cultures.

“The essence of a beautiful life is to make somebody else’s life better,” she said.

The Dear Future Me Project has a Facebook page and a blog, http://dearfuturemeproject.blogspot.com/.

McKeel and the Headstrong Generation, a youth organization designed to give teens a way to make a difference in Greenville, are planning a public event in downtown Greenville in August or September where teens can write letters to their future selves.

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Gloria  - Dear Future Me Project   |2012-04-23 09:54:51 Kudo's to Hannah for following her dream with creativity and zeal. A great concept for young people to contribute to and read what their peers are dreaming. Think big - dream big and let the creative process flow!!! Reply

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