Before Graduation: Write to Yourself a Few Years Out
The last days of school are packed with ceremony: the thesis defense, the class photo, the farewell dinner, the empty dorm room. Then the noise fades, and it hits you — some things never got said, and some feelings will be gone if you don't write them down now. Every June, graduates come here to write: to themselves three years out, asking whether the job turned out anything like the dream; to the roommates they lived with for four years, with a pact to open the letters together in five; or simply to seal up "how it feels to stand at the school gate right now" and mail it to their thirty-year-old self. Letters written at graduation have a rare kind of honesty — life hasn't taught you to hedge yet, so you say what you mean. Below are letters graduates chose to share. If you're counting down your last days on campus, don't just take photos. Spend twenty minutes writing this summer down; the future you will be glad you did.
How to write this letter
- Record a few specific "last times": the last lecture, the last cafeteria meal, the last late-night talk before lights-out. Details hold their value better than feelings do.
- Write down where you're headed and what worries you: which offer you signed, which city, what keeps you up at night. Years later, this is the part you'll compare notes with.
- Write one to a roommate or classmate too — add their email or phone number and pick a date to open them together.
- Ask your future self the hard ones: are you still in touch with these people? Any regrets about the path you picked?
Real letters from the vault
296 public letters寄未来
大学毕业了吧？？工作顺心嘛，加油！实现自己的梦想！！！
锦衣缇骑在镇江
2019.11.09
工作三年，是否有成，父母安康？
今天拍毕业照，游离一旁，三年工作只希望父母能吃饱喝足
n5002
2020.06.09
寄未来
毕业了，大学也结束了，接下来就靠自己工作丰衣足食了！
锦衣缇骑在镇江
2019.11.09
这时的我们在干嘛
这时的我毕业了吧，我在哪里呢？这时候的你在哪里呢？
淡泊致远hit
2017.09.09
写给未来的我
现在应该毕业了吧，继红，再见。要好好告别呀。
Apple_Huang
2015.05.28
我在即将走出校园的时候问未来的自己：
现在你面前的那个她，是你一直深爱的那个人吗？
BluforJewel
2013.03.21
写给未来的自己
你毕生的梦想实现了多少？有没有让自己后悔！
n4216
2019.05.18
毕业快乐
龙儿是我的童真
2014.07.17
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I write to myself or to my classmates?
Either — or both. Writing to yourself is the classic; for classmates, just add their email or phone number. Whole dorm rooms often write together at the farewell dinner and agree to open everything on the same day in five years.
How far out should I send it?
Three to five years is the sweet spot — long enough for life to change, short enough that the bond still holds. Some send theirs to a reunion date ten years away.
What if my email changes in a few years?
Every letter has a 6-digit claim code that works no matter what — and on delivery day the system sends both an email and a text, so you're covered twice over.
Before Graduation: Write to Yourself a Few Years Out
Write yours