Ethan Linsay - Letter To My Younger Self

Dear Freshman Year Ethan,

You do not know it yet, but going to O’Dea will be the best decision you will make over the course of your short 14 year life.

It may be a grind at first, constantly having to deal with the Bainbridge Island ferry commuting to school, not knowing how much sleep you will get for the next day, but you will feel so energized every morning knowing your going to school.

Freshman football is going to suck, your not going to be good at it and you are going to run until your lungs collapse, but you never quit and that is what matters.

Then something called Covid-19 hits. You are not going to know what to do and for the next year and a half you are you going to see almost no one.

You will learn though that this would be one of the best things to happen to you.

You get out of the competitive, toxic teenage enviornment and work on yourself. You are going to lose weight and gain muscle, run faster, and start to get better and better at lacrosse.

As you look back on it when you are older, you are going to feel so proud about how hard you worked during this time. You meal prepped all your meals, lifted every morning before school, and then went to shoot everyday.

Then in the spring of 2021, you could finally play lacrosse with O’Dea. It will be the best season of lacrosse you will ever partake in. One thing I will say is never take that carpool for granted, you will look back at the end of high school like I am doing and realize that is one of your best memories from high school.

It may seem like you have nothing going on with you during this time, but Covid is the best thing that will ever happen to you.

Throughout the course of high school, never take any of it for granted. It will seem like yesterday you were being yelled at by seniors to grab the waters and balls for lacrosse practice.

Most importantly, keep in touch with the alumni and make sure to guide the younger guys. You were grateful for the upperclassmen that helped you, so return the favor.

You are going to achieve amazing things throughout high school, make sure to cherish it.

ETHAN LINSAY