A dear old friend of mine has an adorable 5 year old nephew in kindergarten in New Jersey. She invited me to participate in a little event the school has organized to celebrate the kids’ 100th day in school. They have invited 100 friends to write emails from different parts of the world. I was honored to be asked, but, to be perfectly honest, I was also very, very stressed out about it. I have never felt like I’ve had so much responsibility in my fingers before. I felt old, and not-wise-enough, without the right advice or the right words to give it. This was an exercise in summing up my life for some little people with limited vocabularies and even less interest. I sent the email below just a few minutes ago. I hope I haven’t ruined anyone…

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Dear Derek and class,

100 days! Wow! I bet that seems like it went by very fast. That’s how it all feels when I look back. I can remember kindergarten very well, and that was 28 years ago! Boy does time fly by. I spent 17 years of my life in school, got a degree, and worked really hard after that. Now, I get paid to help people build websites, and I live very far away from where I grew up in Staten Island, NY.

I live in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. That’s on the other side of the planet, just south of the Persian Gulf, next to Saudi Arabia. Just 10 40 years ago this was a small city in the desert and some people still lived in tents. Now, it is the fastest growing city in the world, with millions of people, skyscrapers, beaches, shopping malls, and even man-made islands and a ski-slope with real snow. Here’s a link to it on Google Maps.

I am 33 years old now, and it was only this year that I learned the most important thing I ever learned: There is a very big world out there, and you won’t feel like you have had a good life unless you’ve seen most of it with your own eyes.

This year I have traveled a lot. I touched the ancient pyramids in Egypt, held a baby sea turtle in Mexico, was almost attacked by a morey eel in the Gulf of Oman, photographed beautiful buildings in Spain, walked across London Bridge, and snowboarded in a shopping mall in the desert of Dubai. I have never been happier.

I’ll leave you now with some pretty good advice: Work hard in school because it all pays off in the end. Listen to your teachers and parents because they did all this already. Travel the world because it’s nicer than New Jersey.

Congratulations on your first 100 days!

Best wishes,

Chris DiClerico
(Good, old friend of Derek’s Aunt Lori)
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