A letter from myself, age 13

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26 responses to “A letter from myself, age 13”

1. 

   Ben Carlson

   9/05/2008

   Wow man, that’s totally sweet. Quite close on a lot of those predictions for sure. =) More teachers should do this! (Did your teacher track your addresses, or what..?)

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2. 

   Levi Figueira

   9/05/2008

   WOW man… Pretty impressive and awesome to read! :D By the way, you got that part about the “special footage just for video games graphics” pretty close… Motion capture and CGI movies are common these day! ;) Great stuff! (maybe you should start investing in the stock market :p)

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3. A letter to my future self from my past self… – Matt and Nancy Heerema

   9/05/2008

   […] Read all about it here. […]

   Reply
4. 

   Matt

   9/05/2008

   The reason I “haven’t written any” comedy stories (which I can’t recall ever writing) was because I had several friends commit suicide within a span of several months. Not much to laugh about.

   Wow the memories.

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5. 

   Erik Sagen

   9/05/2008

   I think I’ll have a pretty good job and a pretty nice house. I don’t know if I’ll be married or not I probably will be and I might even have a kid or two. I think most cars will run on alchohol or batteries if we even have cars. But I don’t want to make any guesses because they will most likely be way off.

   Wow. Pretty accurate “guesses”.

   Nintendo still lives, despite your 13-year-old self wondering about its existence in the future. A genetic engineer? Hmm. I think I wanted to be an illustrator, I never thought of doing anything so sophisticated.

   We wrote a letter like this one in 9th grade. When I received the letter years later I was pretty spooked, not because my predictions were way off, but speaking (in the letter) as a 13 to 14-year-old to my then 26-year-old self, that was just creepy.

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6. 

   Phil

   9/05/2008

   What a visionary.

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7. 

   Mike Propst

   9/05/2008

   Genetic engineer? Wow. Pretty sure I just wanted to put on a guitar and swing my arm around like Pete Townshend at 13.

   Still do actually…

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8. 

   Matt

   9/05/2008

   I’ve always been a geek. That Genetic Engineer thing lasted right up until my senior year of high school.

   However, now I simply want to play guitar like Pete Townsend…

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9. 

   Matt

   9/05/2008

   Also notice my proto-LOLCAT, abrupt closing. The precursor to KTHXBAI!!

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10. 

    Ben362

    9/05/2008

    No flying cars, commercial space flights, or moon colonies

    but not that far off really

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11. 

    niki alvey

    9/05/2008

    Very cool.

    Congrats on your second child on the way!

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12. 

    Kathy

    9/05/2008

    This is priceless. You know, as much as I enjoy the people my children have become, I miss the people they used to be–they’ll never be 4 or 10 or 13 again. To have something preserved in your voice from than transient phase of life is invaluable. I hope your precious kids have a chance to do something similar. :)

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13. 

    Brad Hill

    9/05/2008

    That’s the best thing I’ve read in ages, even though you probably wrote it yesterday and now are mocking us for being so gullible and weepy over your sweet childhood evocation.

    It’s depressing to think that you were only in 7th grade in 1993. Because I was already in 9th grade. I feel so old.

    I’m flabbergasted by the maturity of your predictions. At that age my personal forecast involved becoming a camel herder in the Sahara. My fallback plan was toll collector on the New Jersey Turnpike.

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14. 

    Matt

    9/05/2008

    I promise no hoaxes! Though I am sorta wishing I would have thought of that. Maybe I’ll discover something I wrote in kindergarten tomorrow…

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15. 

    Nancy

    9/05/2008

    My favorite parts of the letter was that your handwriting hasn’t changed much (and that’s a compliment ;)) and that for a seventh grader, I think your grammar is AMAZING.

    And I think it’s also fun to think about the fact that I was just one floor below you when you were writing this :) LOL…

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16. 

    Matt

    9/05/2008

    (Nancy was in 6th grade, in the same middle school building, when I was in 7th. We didn’t know each other. Ahhh fate.)

    And about that kindergarten writing sample….

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17. 

    Donita

    9/05/2008

    Amazingly creative in you thoughts and writing. But that doesn’t surprise me. You and Ahren have very vivid imaginations. You were quite a twosome playing D&D. I have bee thinking about you and Nancy. Has your second child come into the world yet?

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18. 

    Mom/Sue/Grandma Sue

    9/05/2008

    Matt,
    This brought tears to my eyes. I remember you telling me about writing that letter. I never got to see it until just now. I think they were collected and sealed in the time capsule that same day.

    1992-93 was a rough year on you and I am so proud of how you handled the difficult times then, and the wonderful man and father you have become now.

    I’m just wondering about the genetic engineering part…I’m wondering if that was because we had taken your sister, Jenny, to the Mayo Clinic the summer of 1992 and they did Genetic tests on her to try and diagnosis her disability. The doctor was discussing about how in the future all health care would be managed with genetics and eventually they might be able to turn disabilities around.

    What is that old saying, “the walls have ears”? I didn’t realize how much you were taking in about all of that.

    As for the music part…I just have to laugh. We tried having you take piano lessons, but you wanted nothing to do with learning chords and playing scales. You just wanted to play music…and you did…and you do. ;D

    Love you always and forever!
    Mom

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19. 

    Matt

    9/05/2008

    Mom – I think you are right on about the genetic engineering part. Either you just planted that memory in my brain or that’s exactly what I was thinking. I remember that trip pretty clearly.

    I think, though, what sealed the deal was Jurassic Park which came out that year. I’m fairly certain the combo of those two things made that my life’s pursuit. I remember talking with Martin Jischke (then president of ISU) about the field and the degree at ISU my senior year of high school.

    Shortly before I made the final college decision, though, I got interested in hacking, and thus chose computer engineering over genetics.

    And then I got a BA in Psych and Religion… and work as a Web designer… go figure.

    Fairly certain I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be though.

    Proverbs 16:9 strikes again.

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20. 

    Matt

    9/05/2008

    Oops… check my history. Jurassic Park didn’t come out until June of that year. Wouldn’t have affected this letter.

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21. 

    Josh Munford

    9/08/2008

    The reason I “haven’t written any” comedy stories (which I can’t recall ever writing)

    Wow the memories.

    I remember you writing a short comedy about a caveman that was certainly hilarious. It must have good been if I still remember it! You were probably 11 or 12is. I forget the title or the caveman’s name, but he was definitely chased by a saber-toothed tiger into a tarpit. There was a punchline about a rock and a hard place in there that cracked me up.

    I think they call those the good ol’ days.
    “Fire up the wayback machine Mr. Peabody”

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22. 

    Matt

    9/08/2008

    Josh – dude ya, the memories. It was a hard couple of years wasn’t it? You more so than me no doubt. If you take a look at the scans, your name is on there with Dan Harmon too… wonder what ever happened to him?

    Thanks for leaving the comment. Good memories in with the bad.

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23. 

    Josh Munford

    9/09/2008

    Matt- Dan and I kept in touch for through the summer of our softmore years in HS. He would come in town and look me up about once a year and we’d chat on the phone every once in awhile. When I returned to Burlington from the academy (junior year in college) Mom had moved and we fell out of company. I’ve always figured I’d find him on the front page of the national news due to his genius, or at least on Facebook or whilst Googling, all to no avail.

    On another note, you and I made a time capsule out of an old mason jar a few weeks before you moved, It was hidden behind the fireplace in mom’s house on Kimberly. I made it a point to grab it and finally opened it in 2004. We signed and sealed it “do not open till 2004 else prepare for the curse” or something to that nature. Inside were a few artifacts, your’s consisted of a LA GEAR shoe keychain in the form of a license plate (I remember being envious of those shoes, probably because they came with a keychain), a picture of your best friend from Omaha, and a D&D pewter figure, (I assume it was a Rouge, and possibly chaotic evil, it was painted completely black and definitely looked the part). There may be some other items as well, but those are the ones that stick out. I will round them up in the folowing week and mail them to you assuming I can get your address off of your posted resume.

    -Josh

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24. 

    Jim

    9/12/2008

    Matt, you are an unending source of insight, even from when you were 13. I think I’m glad I never wrote myself a letter like that, because I’d want to skim the parts I couldn’t stand, then slap the little monkey that wrote it! You’re a good friend.

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25. 

    Robin

    9/15/2008

    That’s a fantastic letter to recieve! A great way to see how things have changed for you. I wish I could get a letter from me earlier self, see how my life’s worked out!

    I recall the 486DX too, such a powerful beast, a whopping 50MhZ if I remember correctly! :)

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26. 

    michael Austin Productions

    9/19/2008

    WOW, I wish we did that. That was sick, you where very right about the video games… 13 inventing wifi ;) lol… creative and fun.. thanks for the read.

    Michael Austin Productions
    Michael Austin Productions | Professional Web Design | Graphic Design | Internet Consulting

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