Lesson plan; write a letter to your future self.

In this very personal activity, students have the chance to write a letter to their future self, to open
either at the end of the school year or at the end of high school/middle school or later in life.

Important: Tell the students that they are the only person who will ever read their letter
(unless they choose to share it with others). This means that they can write in any language, do a great job or not such a great job – because they are the only ones who will
ever know.

Consider a variety of prompts to get students started. In each one, encourage students to think of themselves not just as students, but as human beings: sisters, brothers, friends, sons or daughters, creatives, athletes, leaders, etc.

  1. What is one thing you’d like to accomplish this year or in 3 years?
  2. Describe how you feel right now and what you enjoy doing.
  3. Where do you see yourself as a student in 1 or 3 or 6 years’ length of time?
  4. What are you most proud of in your life so far? What do you want to be proud of in one year?
  5. Describe something you are struggling with right now, and describe what it might look like to have overcome it.
  6. Write a letter to give your future self some encouragement and love!
  7. How have you changed over the past few years, and how do you hope to change over the next few?

Use the service FutureMe. Every student needs a personal email account to do this.

Watch the videos below for inspiration and read this article in The Guardian about 31-year-old Wilfred Chan and how he has used this service since he was 17.

“I hope you can remember what it felt like to be 21,” young me wrote. “Because I have no idea what I want to do with my life right now, but it’s okay. Because I do have faith that things are going to find a way to work themselves out.” As I read it, I felt memories of the last decade wash over me. Twenty-one-year-old me would never have predicted that I would start my career in Hong Kong, as a journalist covering its tragic democracy movement. That I would return to New York City years later and work for a while delivering food. That we would face a pandemic amid resurgent white supremacy and accelerating climate catastrophe.