Dear Dakotah,

This is it.

Tomorrow you leave for college, for art school.

Tomorrow the old adage “This is the first day of the rest of your life” will never ring more true.

Tomorrow you leave for college and I’ve promised myself I won’t cry. So I’ll do what I always do when I need to fight back tears — I will write.

In an attempt to live up to my title as your mentor I feel I should offer you some wise words of advice as you enter this new stage of life. But I often feel that over these past three years you’ve taught me more than I could ever teach you.

But here goes…

Go to class — most of the time.

Turn things in when they’re due — all of the time.

Do you best work — not for a grade, not for your professors, but for yourself.

Take yourself seriously as an artist, but never get caught up in your own hype. Be humble, but never dismiss the well-deserved rewards you will receive.

Grow up, but never stop being a girl.

Never stop being a girl who creates art not for accolades but because she just can’t help herself. Never stop being a girl who squeals loudly with excitement in a quiet coffee shop and doesn’t care who stares.

Never stop being a girl who believes in sisterhood and friendship that lasts forever. Never stop being a girl who believes women are worth worshipping.

Never stop being a girl who loves pink.

You once told me you dress like you just left a luau on the moon. Never stop being a girl who says things like that.

Don’t wear pajamas to class. You have too many cute clothes in your closet to engage in such nonsense.

Take naps.

Exercise 4 days a week — not to be skinny, but to be strong.

Eat pizza at midnight at least once and have no regrets.

Credit cards are evil. Cupcake ATMs are from God.

Don’t let New York change you, but be sure to change it. Make your mark and make it beautiful.

Remember the world owes you nothing, but you owe yourself the world. So go after your goals with reckless abandon.

I do not know the secret to understanding men. Don’t trust people who say that they do.

Break all the rules — even these — if that’s what it takes to be true to who you really are.

Don’t panic if you have no idea who you really are. That’s the purpose of the pursuit of higher education. Self-discovery, not a degree, makes college worth the price of admission.

Never forget things could always be worse.

Never forget you are always enough.

xo,

Javacia