Dear Dua,
Welcome to Hopkins! I remember how excited you were to get here and how many big dreams you have. You wrote me a letter during orientation week — sad to report that I never received it (aka you forgot to give it to your First Year Mentor). But that’s okay! I remember a lot of the things you asked.
Before I get into that, I want to thank you. You did so much work for me to be where I am now. Not just academic work, but personal work. You struggled so much with friends, and, instead of giving up, you learned to communicate and love people regardless of how things end. You gave a thousand chances, you got hurt a lot, but I wouldn’t be who I am if you hadn’t. You were lost as a first-generation student. But you asked questions and you met upperclassmen whom you asked for help. You chose to do the things you loved and never prioritized your resume over the things you wanted to do. You made me the academic, researcher and student that I am.
And! You joined A Place to Talk (APTT). I do wish you had joined a semester earlier, but I can’t possibly thank you enough for applying. That club changes your life. It makes you a better person overall. You meet all your closest friends through APTT, and I know that they’re going to stick around far longer than college, but maybe another future version of us can update us on that. Oh! You do end up becoming co-director and Daivik will be your number one fan when it happens. You will keep up with all the friends who graduate before you, but you will still cry when they leave.
Now, to answer all the questions I know you were bursting with when you got here. You do everything you wanted to. I’m graduating in a few short weeks, and I will have done an entire thesis focused on Pakistan, mental health and medicine. I will be going to medical school, and I love the school I chose (by the way, you’re moving to Philly! You’ll finally get to wear your Eagles jersey in a sea of green). You are closer to the woman you want to be, though I definitely still have a lot to work on. I’ve gone to conferences, performed spoken word poems in front of crowds, gone to Umrah, finished my book, trained so many APTTers, helped underclassmen with what I wished I had help with and so much more.
You deserve to be here. You will always deserve to be here. And you will make yourself a seat at the table because that’s just who you are. I would give you advice, but you don’t need it. Although we could have done things differently, I don’t think we needed to. Things are great as they are — even if they don’t always feel like it.
I’m so proud of you, little me. You’re gonna make all your dreams come true. And I hope I will too!
Love,
Dua from the future.
Dua Hussain is a senior graduating with a degree in Anthropology and Medicine, Science and the Humanities from New Castle, Del.
