Foundation and transition
My past. my future. my path.
A hodgepodge of vintage postcards litters the shelves and far wall of my room. Scarcely an inch of turquoise is left visible in most areas. They seem to possess the uncanny ability of blending into one another, forming a merger of holiday cards, cartoons, and forget-me-nots, while each maintaining a unique and intriguing voice. Perhaps that is why I have carefully rummaged through aged cardboard boxes in hole-in-the-wall stores from Ghent to Paris seeking out not the beautiful images that dance upon the thin pieces of parchment, but the stories seldom remembered yet preserved on the flip side.
From my collection, I have peered through a private window into the lives of strangers. I have seen the bravery of the soldier from WWII consoling his heartsick mother with a scratched depiction of his campaign scrawled onto the back of his picture. I have felt the heartbreak of a young lover sending a valentine with only "I do hope you remember me" to distinguish himself. I have spotted the sparkle of persistence in a Russian model's eyes as she boldly announces herself to New York. I have stood as the silent observer to 126 stories left in the past.
These stories have opened my curiosity to a world of wonder and possibility. I no longer am content with the classic "all-American" lifestyle. I want the inquisitive child of the future to find my legacy written upon an antique card and declare it captivating, inspirational, and worthy of his twenty-five cents, rather than left collecting dust in the nook of an old thrift store. My story will demand remembrance. It will depict the essence of my character: individuality and fearlessness.
I am individual. I dare you to find another curly haired redhead who's just as bizarre yet intriguing. Perhaps it's my ability to talk your ear off after a shot of espresso, how I enjoy clinging to the front of shopping carts in Food Lion bellowing "Never let go Jack!", or the dumbfound shock my dad experiences every time a teacher declares his daughter "shy". So let me rephrase that initial thought. I dare you to find another fiery redhead who can disguise her quirks just as well as I can. I may be completely bonkers, but in the words of Lewis Carroll, "the best people usually are."
Fearlessness: the enthusiasm to pave your own road to achieve what you dream, giving little heed to the daunting, yet trivial, risks. I want to learn further of the 1904 baby-blue Oldsmobile hung next to my dresser. I want to experience the Neuschwanstein-Füssen Castle displayed so elegantly in starch black and white next to my desk. I dream of dragging my finger in the cool Venetian water like the young Italian woman who stands guard to my perfume. These postcards are my map, my compass directing me how to live life to its fullest. I have spent years living vicariously through the stories of others. It is now my time to start writing my own.
I like to think of my path much like my rooms: both back home, and here at Virginia Tech. I have always been a hoarder. I like to remember the little things. I have a glass jar of movie ticket stubs, a box of mardi-gras beads, and as described, countless postcards plastered across every wall of my room to name a few. Every aspect of my life has been like this: messy, confusing, yet beautiful and interesting when looked at as a whole. The examination of one little piece is pointless, as if trying to determine the puzzle picture with only a corner piece. I like the think of the murals of junk, memories, and knickknacks as my own personal art form. I enjoy finding beauty in the obscure and minuscule connections I can make.
In this same manner, I see beauty in the choice of my majors: a language, and a science. With an ever growing love for animals and overwhelming sense of wanderlust, I would love more than anything to use my degree abroad after graduating. I want to study the behavior of animals I've never encountered before. I want to use my skills in French to make myself more attractive to researching teams in Africa. I want to see the animals I've been tracking first hand rather than from behind screen as I have been doing with Dr. Kelly. Every time I'm in the computer lab recording a bobcat from Mountain Lake or a Jaguar from Belize, I sit shaking with anticipation of what incredible animal will next walk in front of the camera.
Right now I am happy. My first semester at Virginia Tech, I have tried new unimaginable opportunities, made unbreakable connections with people I would have never pictured, and have truly become content with the version of myself that I am today. Of course, one is always a work in progress but I’m happy with the road I’m on. I’ve struggled with a few classes but I’ve come to realize that grades aren’t everything. Everything will eventually work out and everything happens for a reason. If the road I’m on doesn’t fit that of my friends or my peers than so be it. It’s college. This is the time to find yourself, to reinvent yourself even. This is the greatest learning experience of our lives so why waste it stressing out on a future that changes just as easily as our majors? Whatever is ahead of me is beautiful, exciting, confusing, and sometimes scary and I can’t wait to embrace it. With the path I'm on now, I know that I'll find happiness, do something I love, and satisfy my curiosity about the world and different cultures around me. I’m a college freshman, a double major, an honors student, and an active member of my community. There’s so much down the road, its all a matter of taking one step at a time.