A Letter to my past Self
Dear 1999 Jyoti,
I am writing to you from the future, it’s 2019, 20 years later because you are at a very interesting stage of your life. You have just completed your education and earned your Ph.D., at the same time you visited the land of opportunity, the United States of America, you met your future husband and also got married. Everything happened at a whirlwind speed within a few months. You have moved to a new country leaving your family, friends, and country behind- I know you are nervous to leave everything and start from scratch! Trust me it will be a fun ride!!
You don’t have a license to drive, your bank balance is zero, you don’t have a car and you don’t even have a job!! Great, but you know you can do it and you have a very supportive husband by your side. Now that you are married, while you are stressed about getting a job, your biological clock is ticking too and you know you need to start a family. I can tell you from the future, you will have a beautiful daughter and a loving son who will fill your heart with happiness but it will be a lot of work raising them while keeping a full-time job! All I can tell you is to get a lot of help and don’t try to be a Super-Mom!!
You have polished your resume and applied for positions in the Universities around the country. While you are getting all these offers to teach at a University, you know your priorities to set up a solid foundation for stable family life. Take your time to decide and you will find the most suitable position near your home and it will be a long time gig!! Don’t stress about layoffs and the turmoil Telecommunication industry will go through- you will still be around when 5G rolls out. Not only the work will be challenging and rewarding it will help you raise your family with a lot of juggling! Make sure you take the time to go on vacations with your family- those will be the precious moments.
I know you are missing Mom-Dad and your sis, you want to run back to India every month but one day America will feel like home. You will have lots of friends and you will feel at home in New Jersey. You will probably say “No Way!!” when I tell you that you will run for an Election, it will be related to education which is your passion. You will learn and grow as a person and do a lot of good work beyond your family/work responsibilities. Community service will be at the core of your heart and will drive you every day.
You will meet some amazing and inspiring people along the way and you will learn so much from each one of them. They all might not agree with you or like you but they will admire you and your strength to stand up to your belief. You will surprise yourself with what one can do when you strongly believe in your ability to bring change. It won’t be an easy ride, you will face a lot of opposition to your ideas, you will not be the most popular person and may face criticism but you will bring groundbreaking changes. I don’t want to spoil the surprise for you. At the end of the day, you will sleep peacefully!
You are a foodie, so to have a long and healthy life, make sure you eat right and workout. You will be running 5Ks- I know it’s hard to believe right now! I hope I am around 20 years from now and can write back from 2039 to you again. Hopefully, I would be enjoying my retirement with my cute grandkids and can look back at a life well lived!!
Now, I need to go back to my teenage kids- I love hanging out with them, streaming movies on Netflix (there is no Blockbuster store anymore) & Amazon (they don’t just sell books) and there is a thing called Smartphones and Software apps that have taken over our lives!!
Lots of love,
2019 Jyoti
