Dear Archbishop Carroll,

It’s senior year and it’s going to be about 2 weeks until I become an alumnus.

This year has taught me a lot. I have matured me a lot. I’ve made a lot of mistakes but it’s just some things.

You can’t take certain things back but you can definitely learn. You can learn to be a better person, learn to make better decisions, and learn to appreciate things. Some certain experiences can mold you into a new person. You can keep holding onto things but you do have to take accountability for your wrongdoings because your words and actions always can affect people — even people you don’t care about.

I definitely learned to be more empathetic because you can’t always determine what someone is going through. People fight demons every day. Some people you probably met were on the verge of suicide the day before. That’s just food for thought. Sometimes we get too caught up in our own devices instead of seeing the bigger picture.

All in all it was a really hard year but that’s life, though. You have to keep going no matter what the situation is, because if you don’t help yourself, who else will? Nobody — at least that’s how it is for certain people. Not everyone is always going to have a big support system. So, for anyone who does have things going on, it’s okay for sure. It may not be that way now but it’s going to be alright. You can be better. You can always learn.