What’s it like in the future? Is it cold? Do you still keep rabbits as pets? Did you survive 2012? I guess you had to have survived; you’re taking this class. Are you living underground to avoid the post-apocalyptic radiation? Is ds106 your only contact with the other humans who remain on earth? Most importantly, are you reading this on an iPad?

Please answer my questions when you get a chance, student of the future, or don’t. Proceed with caution.

I know you are taking this class many years in the future out of obligation to the resurgence against the mechanical uprising, but here in the past we had the option to fall down the ds106 post-apocalyptic war bunker. We all, for whatever reason, elected to be a part of this. It was not out of a desire to connect with the other humans on earth, either, for when we were ds106ers, the earth was densely populated with other humans–we could go places and do things with these people. We didn’t need to hide in tunnels, waiting for the robotic overlords to pass, making animated .gifs in an attempt to save the human race. We did it for school credit and Internet fame.

“But, student of the past who seems to know an awful lot of accurate information about the future, why did you choose to take ds106 when you had things like ‘daylight’ and ‘normal human interaction’ to occupy your time?” you’re probably wondering.

Well, student of the future, here’s the thing: people leave and the sun’s not always there when you need it. Ds106 is for life.

Here’s some advice to get you started as you attempt to save the human race:

• It’s easy to get sucked into ds106–too easy–and it’s easy to neglect it. Don’t do either of these things. Do not let yourself only focus on ds106. You will want to forget about the shelter you’re building in case there’s another nuclear attack and you will want to quit your job as an organ harvester. Don’t do either of these things. But, the volume of other people’s work you’re supposed to read can be overwhelming and it can make you want to turn off your iPad and never look at another piece of technology again. Unfortunately for you, you live in a society run by mutinous robots, so you cannot escape technology. Force yourself to read and comment on other people’s blogs a few times a week so it becomes a habit. Much like your roommate’s terrible ex-boyfriend who is suddenly living in your apartment again, you can ignore ds106, but that doesn’t mean it will go away, even if you sigh a lot and roll your eyes whenever you ear his voice.
• Dance like no one’s watching, but remember: they are. At first you will feel like no one is reading your blog and then, weeks later, you will remember that you have Google Analytics and you will see that a lot of people are reading your blog. Then you might get self conscious that no one understands what a fruitmobile is and that all of your jokes are lost. I’m here to tell you that, yeah, no one is going to get what a fruitmobile is, but if you have an idea, run with it. Your efforts will be rewarded when you overthrow your robot captors and can begin repopulating the human race with the rest of ds106.
• A wise man once said, “if it looks good enough, it looks good enough.” Think of these words on the days you are too busy running from radiation rats to really commit to a ds106 assignment, or too tired from moving corpses, or too uninspired because your life is in ruins. It’s not always about creating the best work every time, because you will not be able to. Accept that and just work to create something. In the past we had these telecommunication devices called phones. We would use them to “phone things in,” a metaphor for a job not done to its full potential, but, rather, done to the phoner’s best ability at any given time. We all phone things in on occasion. As long as it doesn’t cost you your life, it’s okay to continue this practice.

The road ahead is long and treacherous. You will get tired, you will get frustrated, you will wonder why attendance matters so much for a class that’s all about the Internet, but you will also get tons of praise and recognition–the two most important things for sustaining human life–and you will gain knowledge without even realizing it. If you can make it to the end, you will be better for it.

Good night, student of the future. And good luck.