When I was a senior in High School, I decided my friends and I should make some predictions for the future. I made a survey which each of my friends filled out predicting what would happen in the future for others and themselves. Then we all sealed our predictions in the envelope without sharing what we had written. We had planned to wait until ten years from the date we sealed the envelope, or until we were 25 to open the envelope and laugh about what people had said.
For five years the envelope lay untouched. Some of my high school friends I lost contact with almost immediately after graduation and others seemed to just drift away slowly. Out of my main friends from high school, I am only good friends with three of them.
As I was packing up my stuff to move to South Korea, I came across the envelope. I decided that I had no idea where in the world I would be in another 5 years or another few years when I turned 25.
I messaged my friends who I was in contact with and they got a hold of a few others who they were still in contact with, and then we all made plans to meet up. Most of the people who filled out a survey was able to come and it was with eager anticipation that we opened the envelope.
The results were both surprising and funny. Some of the predictions I had for myself were completely OUTLANDISH, but others were spot on. For example, I had a question: “Do you see yourself living in another country for 5+ years?” I wrote “Yes!!” and look where I am now.
The predictions that others had for me were also a mix of spot on and funny, especially the ones my friend Natalie wrote. Natalie took it as a big joke so all her predictions were totally ridiculous. But to be fair, it’s hard to predict what will happen to others in life and what will happen to you too.
However, it is a nice excuse to meet up with old friends and laugh about the past, so we’ve decided to make another set of predictions for the future. Who knows where we will all end up in another five years?
