An Epiphany of the Heart

Today I had some time to think about my life. As I sat and pondered I realized how quickly the days were turning into weeks, the weeks into months, and months into years. That's when it hit me. I'm going to be leaving for college in a little over two years. I know two years doesn't sound like much, but it has been two years since I started high school, and even that seems like it just happened yesterday.

Thus, I began thinking about where I wanted to take my life.

Does anyone remember the game of "Mash" we used to play as kids? Long story short, you would pick your spouse, car, house, job, number of children, etc.. It occurred to me that our lives are just a big game of "Mash" and as you travel down the path of life you begin to fill in the spaces and figure those things out as you go.

Most of my friends know where they want to go to school, their intended major, if they want kids, where they are going to live, and so on. However, I haven't even really even begun to give any thought to those things. Sure, I tell people that I want to go to NYU and major in Musical Theatre, but who am I fooling, I have no idea what I want. Granted, I still have some time to think about these things but just as the end of my sophomore year of high school has snuck up on me, I'm sure the time will come when these decisions will sneak up on me too.

About halfway through the first semester of my sophomore year our school's career counselor put together a little event where someone ( with a career related to that of your first block subject ) would come in and tell you about what they did for a living. I had world history with Mr. Hopkins for my first block, and somehow we  managed to have the man who runs the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library come in and talk to us.  At first I thought it was going to be incredibly boring and stupid ( which, for the most part, it was ) but then he started telling us a little bit about his life's story. This man was from Honolulu, Hawaii, and when he graduated high school he didn't really have many options as to college, due to money restrictions. He told us that one day when he was walking down the street he passed the office for the Peace Corps and, having nothing better to do, walked in. Long story short, he wound up leaving there with his name on the volunteer list and was shortly shipped off to Africa to teach children English.

That story didn't really matter to me until today.

I have now decided that I will, before I pursue a career, enlist as a volunteer in the Peace Corps. Hopefully I will be able to travel to Africa and help spread awareness of HIV/AIDS, or have the opportunity to teach children English. Whatever it may be I am hoping to leave my mark.

Until then I will still tell people that I am planning on going to NYU and majoring in Musical Theatre. Along with that I will continue on, day by day, filling in spaces in my life's game of "Mash" until eventually I finish and have my life planned out ahead of me. Until that day, though, I will remain as free as a bird and I will go to wherever life takes me.

 

 If you want to be happy, be.  ~Leo Tolstoy