We are who we are because of the people that we meet to make us that way.
It's summer time again. That means that it's finally time to break out of my norm and meet some new people. This will be the first time in 6 years that I haven't traveled for the entire summer . This will be the first time in 6 years that I didn't have to live out of a suitcase. It was a personal choice to stay put, but I'm still shocked that I haven't stepped foot on a plane yet. 6 years.
I met so many characters in the years of traveling. Yesterday, I went to my local college bar. The guys wore cut off frat pinnies and the girls wore their cutest, tightest, leggiest summer dresses. Sadly, these are far from the characters I speak of.
Three summers ago, I met a grandmother in the streets of Shanghai, China. It was around 8 pm at night in front of the line 8 metro station, and she was dancing with her elderly friends to traditional Chinese music. I was with my friend at that time and he tried to dance with her. She giggled then declined and took my hands instead. As I fumbled and jolted, her 80+ year old limbs moved perfectly - she was the perfect type of teacher to let me explore my roots. Then she smiled (maybe laughed at me for dancing so awfully), and her toothless grin gave me a realization that I would never be in another situation like this again; And no matter how hard I've try, I haven't been given the chance to go back.
Six summers ago, I spent my first summer traveling back from China to America. On the flight back, I met such an inspiring man in his late 20's. He started his own company and owned 4 different houses around the world. He said that traveling and living your life is the best way to be happy. He told me that because he did what he loved, he was successful. His father forced him into getting a degree he wasn't happy with, but with that degree and that education, he was able to continue to be the successful man he always dreamed of being. On the plane in spotlight of our reading lamps, however many miles above the earth's surface, I was grateful for his company and thought: if the plane came crashing down, I wouldn't mind letting him be the last person I talked to.
So this summer. I will thrive in this bubble known as university. I will make a conscious effort to find people who look strange and get to know them because I know they will have such a better story to tell than the majority of the people here.
It's summer time again. That means that it's finally time to break out of my norm and meet some new people. This will be the first time in 6 years that I haven't traveled for the entire summer . This will be the first time in 6 years that I didn't have to live out of a suitcase. It was a personal choice to stay put, but I'm still shocked that I haven't stepped foot on a plane yet. 6 years.
I met so many characters in the years of traveling. Yesterday, I went to my local college bar. The guys wore cut off frat pinnies and the girls wore their cutest, tightest, leggiest summer dresses. Sadly, these are far from the characters I speak of.
Three summers ago, I met a grandmother in the streets of Shanghai, China. It was around 8 pm at night in front of the line 8 metro station, and she was dancing with her elderly friends to traditional Chinese music. I was with my friend at that time and he tried to dance with her. She giggled then declined and took my hands instead. As I fumbled and jolted, her 80+ year old limbs moved perfectly - she was the perfect type of teacher to let me explore my roots. Then she smiled (maybe laughed at me for dancing so awfully), and her toothless grin gave me a realization that I would never be in another situation like this again; And no matter how hard I've try, I haven't been given the chance to go back.
Six summers ago, I spent my first summer traveling back from China to America. On the flight back, I met such an inspiring man in his late 20's. He started his own company and owned 4 different houses around the world. He said that traveling and living your life is the best way to be happy. He told me that because he did what he loved, he was successful. His father forced him into getting a degree he wasn't happy with, but with that degree and that education, he was able to continue to be the successful man he always dreamed of being. On the plane in spotlight of our reading lamps, however many miles above the earth's surface, I was grateful for his company and thought: if the plane came crashing down, I wouldn't mind letting him be the last person I talked to.
So this summer. I will thrive in this bubble known as university. I will make a conscious effort to find people who look strange and get to know them because I know they will have such a better story to tell than the majority of the people here.
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