It's been a while since I've written to my older brother, so I feel it's finally time to get back into it. I have so much to share with him, and this letter is only the beginning.

Dear Matthew,

I haven't written to you lately and feel guilty about it. However, I believe it's time for me to catch you up on what's happening (with inspiration from It Ends with Us).

Firstly, I completed the Disney College Program on May 9th, 2024, and returned to Greenville for a month or two to look for another job. I could've stayed with Disney but disliked how they treated Cast Members. I also felt that I wasn't progressing in my career. In my opinion, Disney is for vacations, not career-building, unless you plan on going into entertainment. Not to mention that I don't like Florida, so it was the last place I wanted to be.

Truthfully, Matt, I wanted to return to Charleston. I have a tight connection with it because of you, my childhood, and the College of Charleston. Therefore, I began looking for jobs in Charleston, which led me to Patriots Point. Did you ever stay there when you were in the Boy Scouts?

Patriots Point, or PP, is a naval and maritime museum. It holds two ships: the U.S.S. Yorktown and the Laffey. The museum's focus is World War II, Korea, and the Vietnam War. It's out of my comfort zone but still interesting.

I applied to become a Docent, scored an interview, and got the job. It's only Part-Time, so there is no health insurance, but they told me that Full-Time positions should open up in six months. While crossing my fingers for a Full-Time job, I'm excited to be doing something I enjoy.

As a Docent, I do everything: customer service, guest relations, tours, etc. I'm working with many veterans (bless their hearts) but not many young people, so there's some loneliness there. Regardless, everyone at PP is fantastic. They're treating me much better than Disney, so I'm beginning to feel at home.

The best thing is that Patriots Point has a magazine called the Scuttlebutt, so guess what that means? Your little sister is finally getting published! My supervisor tasked me with writing the main article for the Fall 2024 Scuttlebutt about the Laffey at D-Day and the 80th Anniversary of the battle. It's a challenge, Matt, because I'm better with creative writing vs. historical (that's why I changed my Major to Creative Writing). However, I'm nearly finished with the historical portion of the article, which means I can soon dive into the 80th Anniversary celebration (Destroyer Day).

Oh! Did you know that Charleston has a sister city in France called Flers? Apparently, before D-Day, Flers was bombed and destroyed, so Charleston sent care packages to them. Flers was so grateful that they became Charleston's sister city and sent a bouquet. Cool story, right? I hope I can find a way to include this information in 2,000 words, but again, I struggle with critical thinking. Nonetheless, I remember what I learned in a childhood Barbie movie: "You never know what you can do until you try".

Now, let me update you on writing. It should be no surprise that I still love it and hope to get published one day. After three years, Matthew, I finally became a Wattpad Creator on Wattpad. It's my first step to getting paid for my writing, so yay! Even if my stories never trump the cliché Romances and Werewolves, I'm finally a Creator. I worked extremely hard to reach this milestone and am excited to see what happens next with my writing journey.

I miss you, Matthew, but I know you're still here. You're still visiting me in my dreams and look great, so thank you. I'll try to write to you more often.

I love you, Matthew.

- Your little sister,

Vika