Tran_Brandon
1 2020-11-14T17:13:13-08:00 Mary Traester 3c331c166c8b71380909665f15205b660b1b9c2b 37806 1 plain 2020-11-14T17:13:13-08:00 Mary Traester 3c331c166c8b71380909665f15205b660b1b9c2bThis page is referenced by:
-
1
2020-11-14T17:15:17-08:00
Sincerely, Yourself
7
By Brandon Tran
A letter from my forty-year-old self from the year 2042 addressed to my eighteen-year-old self in the year 2020 right now. In it, future me offers solicitude and support to get through this current pandemic (and all-around difficult year) by offering a story with common underlying themes. The story is essentially a true retelling of my parents’ life and a bit of my own -- from their disadvantaged and impoverished upbringing in the slums of postwar Vietnam to me now attending one of the top schools in the United States on a scholarship. Future me wraps up the letter by applying the themes of my parents' story and my own to the broader tale of humanity -- themes like family, community, hope, and persistence. I postulate that the will to persist is not just a feel-good sentiment. It's a responsibility we have to ourselves and each other. And through that responsibility, we unlock the courage to turn hardship into story, just like this letter does. plain 2020-11-30T12:23:08-08:00 37.3382082, -121.8863286Brandon Tran
Abstract
A letter from my forty-year-old self from the year 2042 addressed to my eighteen-year-old self in the year 2020 right now. In it, future me offers solicitude and support to get through this current pandemic (and all-around difficult year) by offering a story with common underlying themes. The story is essentially a true retelling of my parents’ life and a bit of my own -- from their disadvantaged and impoverished upbringing in the slums of postwar Vietnam to me now attending one of the top schools in the United States on a scholarship. Future me wraps up the letter by applying the themes of my parents' story and my own to the broader tale of humanity -- themes like family, community, hope, and persistence. I postulate that the will to persist is not just a feel-good sentiment. It's a responsibility we have to ourselves and each other. And through that responsibility, we unlock the courage to turn hardship into story, just like this letter does.
Open PDF