I was born a younger sister. My time as the youngest in the family was short lived, as my brother was born one year and nine months after me. That being said, this year is my sister’s senior year in high school.
I’ve had senior friends, but I’ve never actually seen the senior year as close up as this year. There’s still a good bit of the year left, meaning a good bit of the very exciting aspects of the year are still to come.
I say all of this to lead to the topic of senior letters. As one could assume from all that I said earlier, I’ve never written a senior letter. I have considered writing one in the past, but never actually followed through.
I knew that I had to write one this year for my sister, not only because she’s my sister, but also because of the power of words and cards (which I discussed in an earlier CAS blog). However, I’ve learned that the process of making a letter as well as the general energy surrounding a letter is so different than that of a card.
First, I placed more of a significance on the envelope that holds the letter itself. I very easily could of gotten any envelope out of a box (meaning I could have bought one that was premade), but I really wanted this to be personal. Therefore, I decided I’d learn how to make an envelope myself.
I simply googled the instructions on how to make an envelope. I was surprised just how many different methods existed, so I looked at some of the different results and settled on one (Which I will add at the end of this post if I can find it! I’m choosing to add it later so it doesn’t show as the cover image).
I’ll admit that I underestimated the size of the paper needed for a decently sized envelope, so my envelope was small. Luckily, the paper I chose to use for the letter itself was small and could be easily folded, so the size of the envelope did not prove to be too much of an issue.
After folding the envelope I also cut out a square and made a name card to glue on the top.
I spent a good amount of time on the actual letter. I felt (and still feel) that it was the most important part of the entire product. Obviously I won’t be sharing exactly what I wrote due to the nature of the letter, but I still want to highlight my thoughts on the letter and experience.
I don’t know how my sister will react, but I know that the letter will mean something to her. I know that all of the letters made will mean something to every senior that is graduating. It makes my heart happy knowing that so many people get involved in sharing their words, and I could only wish that people did it more than just this occasion.
I feel as though I’ve grown in a couple ways from this. Not only did I learn how to make an envelope, I also learned to continue to use my words and heart. Even though it doesn’t seem like the best thing to do (and honestly isn’t the best thing in most situations), when it feels like there isn’t anything you can do to help it is important to know that there always is, and it can mean something.
The Cons of Writing 