"To thine own self be true..."

To my other half,

I hope that all your preparations for the next year at university are going well and you are ready for some of the best times of your life.
You are now entering a world where you will be given the freedom to redefine what you believe in and the opportunity to become a new person. And this is both thrilling and nerve wracking. During the course of the next year you are going to be bombarded with things that will challenge who you are and you’ll be tempted to go along with it because it seems the easiest way to make new friends.
I know this because in my first term I was in awe of the interesting people I was meeting and I wanted to friends with them. I was never really the clubbing and drinking type in High School but in trying to maintain the friendships I’d formed, I became that girl. And to be honest, it was fun being her. But the girl I’d become wasn’t the girl I was. And deep inside I didn’t like this ‘new’ me.
More and more I started to see the monotony in the pre-drinking, Union and Friars lifestyle and it bored me. So instead, I began to stay in more, preferring to watch movies alone than deal with pushy crowds and boisterous drunks. And though it was lonely for a time, I felt happier within myself. And gradually I became friends with people who would rather go for a quiet drink than a bender Wednesday night at the Union.
I encourage you to experiment with new things and people that Rhodes provides because else you’ll never really what does and doesn’t suit you. But hold on tight to your values and morals that have made who you are now because they’ll help shape how you embrace the Rhodes culture.
All the best for the next year and I know you’ll have the time of your life.

All my love,

Sarah