Dear Phil,

I know you’re scared right now.

You’re stepping into this new world of university carrying more than books and expectations. You’re carrying questions about who you are, and how much of that is safe to show. So you keep parts of yourself hidden. Not because you’re weak, because you’re learning how to survive.

I want you to know something early on: the path you’re on won’t be a straight line.

There will be changes you didn’t plan for. You won’t finish your degree in the way you think you should. For a while, that will feel like proof that you’ve failed. It isn’t. You’re fighting internal battles that don’t have names yet, about identity, belonging, and learning how to exist in the world as yourself.

It takes time. Longer than you’d like.

But you do get there.

And when you do, look at where you end up.

You become someone who helps others feel safer than you felt. You work in diversity and wellbeing and you are a respected leader. You speak up for people, young and old,  who are finding their feet. You create the spaces and the role models you didn’t have, and you do it with care, courage, and heart.

Here’s the only advice I want to leave you with: don’t confuse delay with defeat. Growth doesn’t always look impressive from the outside. Sometimes it looks like stopping, starting again, and choosing yourself.

Everything you’re struggling with now becomes part of your strength later.

You don’t need to rush.
You don’t need to have it all figured out.

You just need to keep going.

With pride,
Phil