Dear younger Marcelo,

I'm writing to you from the future. You see, I'm going through a reflective phase. It's a boomer thing. You don't know what a boomer is? Never mind, not important.

What is important is this: you are about to enter the professional world, and some decisions you make now will have a profound impact on your career and your life.

I know, you're proud of receiving your Veterinary Medicine degree from a prestigious university in Brazil at a very young age. Congratulations! Now, hang the diploma on the wall, and let's move on.

This is the first thing you should know, paraphrasing Sir Winston Churchill (someone worth reading about, if I may tell you this), the diploma is not the end of the race, it's not even the beginning of the end, but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. What I mean to say is this, never stop learning. Science is constantly growing, expanding, and changing. What you think you know at this point of your life will change dramatically by the time you get to be my age. The sooner you start updating and recycling your knowledge, the better for you.

The second thing you should hear is this, your career path, and in fact, your entire life journey will have many unexpected twists and turns. To adapt to all the changes that await you in the future, you will need skills you didn't know you had, and some knowledge that you thought would not be useful will prove to be vital. By the way, hold on to that English grammar book. I assure you, you will need it. And don't stop practicing your tennis forehand and backhand strokes. Most of all, work on your weak second serve! I wish someone had told me that earlier.

the diploma is not the end of the race, it's not even the beginning of the end, but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.

Third, know this: your biggest treasure and most valuable assets are the relationships that you make and cultivate throughout your professional career and personal life. Treat every person you meet at work as a friend to be kept for life. Don't lose contact with your friends; keep calling and meeting them as frequently as possible. Stay in touch with your family and relatives. They won't stay around forever, and when they're gone, you will miss them and wish you had had more time with them. Keep the flame of love always burning bright. Take good care of that young lady you're dating. She may one day become the mother of your children.

One final piece of advice: enjoy your life, take your professional career seriously, but not so seriously that it interferes with your relationships. If one day you move to the United States (I know, you never even dreamed of this possibility, but life is full of surprises, you never know what may happen down the road), don't waste any opportunities to travel the country, meet new people and make yourself at home there. It's a wonderful country, as complicated as your native Brazil, but much better organized. Or at least it was, until some years ago when an orange menace came and... But perhaps this is something for the next letter.

Sincerely yours,

Older Marcelo