Letter to 18 year old JD.

The youngn's I've contacted to become involved with GILAS are bringing the heat with ideas and excitement that they're making me wish I was there age again. Sure there are things I wish I did differently, much differently.

But duh, I know that the sum of my experiences yadda, yadda, yadda.

What would I say to my 18 year old self?

Hi Juan David.

Twenty-five year old JD here, just looking back on the days when the "real world" was all new to me...er, you. Us? Well, here's some words of advice for what you are thinking/will eventually think about...

As far as classes go, don't take that Chemistry 103 class along with the Biology 105 class at the same time. You will regret it. Put off your writing requirement until second semester of freshman year. Overloading on credits on your first semester in college looks great on paper...but come finals time....you will thank me. Make sure to visit the sociology department early on because it will be your eventual major after a lot of flip-flopping with the sciences. Although you will have the pre-reqs and the skills to take them to the next level, chemistry will not be the road you will take, though it never hurts to try. The folks will be less than thrilled but they'll come around and support you.

Foster your creativity man! You tried a bit in high school but college is a good time to shine in that aspect. Socially, you'll definitely grow from the shell you lived in during high school. Joining the swim team as a walk on sounds like a good idea now, but just a warning that you may hate swimming later on.

You'll eventually pledge and cross into a fraternity. Make sure you watch out for the brothers who are there for the parties and associate yourself with the brothers who are there for the actual brotherhood. A lot of flack will be put on you, but with the support of the brothers, you'll be able to deal with much more than you thought.

The whole name thing. Okay, Juan David gets shortened to JD during pledging because it seemed ridiculous to one brother to recite our full name during the pledging process. Especially the hell week episode. You'll find out...

Do not brush off PUSO as a cliquey group of Filipinos who live in their exclusive world like your experience in high school. You'll have your chance to change a lot of the ideas of membership and during your senior year, you will find your true passions because of the organization.

You'll meet a girl and dance around a relationship on and off for quite a long time. Seems like you will be together forever, as with all feelings of love. You'll fall in love but she will destroy you. Not purposely but things will no work out because of circumstance. Two years will pass before you speak to her again...but maybe love is sweeter the second time around. I'm still tryiing to figure that out.

Try not to wear the manpris so much freshman year. I know it's the style, but you will look at pictures from that time and really regret following that ugly trend. And don't dye your hair. Ever. Please. That's a mistake you'll regret for a week. Get the clippers ready.

After college you'll have a lot of fun enjoying a newfound freedom. But once you hit the ground running at your first job, you will ask yourself, "DA FUCK? I WENT TO COLLEGE FOR THIS?" Remember that feeling. The rage will help you get through the tough times.

By the time you turn 25, you hope to be wiser, but you realize that you're just going to be just as clueless as you are now at 18. Sorry.

Thanks.