Dear Daughter...

​Have you guys ever worn a sock?
 
Probably.
 
I hated socks as a kid, couldn't stand them. But I love them now and I may or may not have felt like a kid in a candy shop when I went and bought a bunch of socks for myself.
 
At my house, we have a sock bin and I don't mean a cutesy little Target bin. No, we have a sock BOX that holds lonely socks missing their sockmates, lucky socks who have their mate, and other miscellaneous items. There are socks in there from all stages of our lives, from a few baby ones to "grown up socks".
 
I wear a size 9 1/2-10. Can you imagine me trying to fit my foot into a baby sock?
 
A friend of mine wears size sixteen shoes. Can you imagine me trying to wear one of his socks without having to pull it up to my thigh?
 
But we all have feet that need socks.
 
My point? Sometimes you will have the same problem or situation as someone else, but their solution will not work for you. And vice versa.
 
Right now, I am enrolled in three different courses that are teaching me programming. As the semester continues, one of the things I have realized is that there are almost always multiple solutions to the same problem. If you give three people the same problem, it is entirely possible that each program has a different method, but they all deliver the same (correct) result. This is entirely true in the real world as well.
 
Your solution may not work for someone else’s problem. The thing about solutions is that they are not always one size fits all.
 
This may seem like an obvious point, but I think it might be something we quickly forget. Don't get discouraged or feel defeated if someone’s suggestion doesn't work for your problem. That is often how life goes.
 
The beauty of these situations, is in the fact that it is a learning opportunity for you. You will learn how to come up with your own solutions by glaring at your problem until it makes sense or by tweaking someone else’s solution. This ability is so, so, important because you will always need to find the answer to the questions that arise in your life. I know that I have in the past, I am right now, and I will in the future. But don't worry, we’ve got this!

-Cassia

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