MATTAWA — On Monday, April 27, Wahluke High School seniors received their caps and gowns. They also received letters they had written to themselves at the end of their eighth-grade year.

The letters are the project of Wahluke High School teacher Joel Dugan.

“This whole thing started in 2014 when I received a letter from myself that I had written in 2004, my senior year at Bothell High School,” Dugan said. “My English teacher, Mrs. Johnson, mailed them out 10 years later.”

Dugan had forgotten about the assignment. He was inspired by the letter and wanted to find a way to do something similar for students in the Wahluke School District. At the time, he was teaching eighth-grade U.S. history at the junior high. At the end of that school year, he had his first class of students write letters to themselves. His plan was to give the students their letters just prior to their graduation. Last year was the first time that Dugan was able to hand out letters.

“This year, as everyone is aware, looks different for our seniors and the whole world,” Dugan said. “Monday, when the seniors were picking up their cap and gowns in a drive-thru at the high school, I started handing out their letters. Some students cried, some laughed, some looked forward to the money they had sent to them self in the future.”

In addition to money, some of the students had sent pencils to themselves since they had a habit of forgetting them in eighth grade.

“Quite a few were embarrassed by the relationships they thought would last but didn’t last the summer,” Dugan said. “All of them were grateful to have a piece of their own legacy that they got to look back on in this time where it is tough to look back or forward.”

One of the students to receive a letter was Yaritza Alitriste. On looking back at reading her eighth-grade letter, she realized that she has learned a lot of things.

“It was embarrassing to read,” Alitriste said. “I felt bad for myself. If I were to write another letter, it would be different.”

One of the things Alitriste noticed was that her handwriting has changed over the past four years.

“It felt like a different person,” Alitriste said. “Like it wasn’t me that wrote it.”

Another senior, Tony Cruz, said he was surprised how much he had changed.

“It was not a bad thing,” Cruz said. “It’s that good feeling you get when you see how your life has improved. It made me proud to see what I have achieved.”

Cruz also mentioned that he wishes he could talk to his past self. He said that if he were to write a letter to himself 10 years from now, he would tell himself “to keep working hard and to focus on life and getting better.”

Rachal Pinkerton may be reached via email at rpinkerton@suntribunenews.com.