Dear Teachers & Parents

 Dear Teachers and Parents,
Up until this year, I have cared a great deal about my education, my grades, and – essentially – my future. But now… everything is different. My cousin committed suicide last May and since then, everything has “snowballed,” and my life has gotten progressively worse. I discovered solid proof that my father cheated on my mom for their entire marriage (24 years). I stopped talking to him for good; I feel severely betrayed by my own father. I started cutting again, for the first time in a month. It was… pretty bad.
But you know what? All the things that have happened to me in the past year have led me to believe that it doesn’t matter. In the end, failing to turn in a spotless research paper is not going to affect my future.
So you know what?
I’m done giving a shit. My life will turn out just fine, even if I fail Spanish class. Once I graduate from school, I plan on moving to England; I won’t need that language anyway. And I don’t think that being able to correctly cite a source is going to matter when I’m working with teens with addictions.
You all tell me that the likelihood of my achieving my dreams is so slim I might as well not be trying. Simply because I’m a slacker at the classes I won’t need doesn’t mean that I am failing at life.
I’ll prove you all wrong.