I was given an assignment in high school that seemed odd at the time, but nonetheless I completed it and quickly forgot about it, as most teens do. Then one day five years later, I went to my mailbox, grabbed the envelopes and stopped dead in my tracks. There in my hands was an envelope with a picture of myself staring back at me from the outside of the envelope. To my shock, it was my high school graduation picture.

At first I thought it was some kind of weird joke, or a request from my high school for a badly needed donation. When I opened the envelope, it contained a letter that I had written to myself when I was a senior in high school. The teacher’s assignment had been to write a letter to myself that contained predictions of where I thought I’d be living and what I thought I’d be doing five years after graduation. She had promised to mail the letter back to me five years later.

I must say, I had some pretty lofty expectations. First, I was certain I’d have a house in California and another in New York. No way would I be living anywhere near the state of Iowa. Having spent the first 18 years of my life on our family farm near a small town in Eastern Iowa, I was destined for big-city living. I didn’t predict that one very well, because I’ve never lived anywhere but Iowa and, although Des Moines is a nice-sized city, it’s not the same big-city living I was referring to. (Thank God!).

I also wrote that I hoped I’d be married to my boyfriend at the time, but indicated a feeling I had in the pit of my stomach that it wasn’t going to work out. My suspicions were correct and, believe me, I am the lucky one for it.

Finally, I also thought I’d be a journalist or be associated with something that involved writing. Got that one right, too. I write on a daily basis at my job and my passion for writing has only continued to grow over the years.

So, am I happy with the way my life has turned out so far? You bet. I have a wonderful home and family, a good job and no plans to leave Iowa. In fact, I’m proud to call it home.

The experience of receiving my own letter in the mail stuck with me over the years, and I reread it from time to time, as I did again the other day. I highly recommend the process to parents who have children graduating or teachers who want to make an impact on their students. It might not get their attention at the time, but believe me, it definitely will when they receive their letter back five years later.

It’s also a simple task that might help adults take stock of what they’ve accomplished, laugh at their earlier immaturity, or inspire them to go after dreams they’ve pushed to the wayside due to the daily grind. Rereading my letter again so many years later is what drove me to pursue my dream of writing to be published, and here I am. I’m holding my head just a little higher today.

Julie Gibson has been a resident of Des Moines since 1989 and is the agency services coordinator for Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company of Iowa in West Des Moines.