PC: Allie Gerhardt
“So many times has it all been said and doneBut in the end it’s the fight that’s just begunUnderstand that it’s days like theseWhen the world is so hard to pleaseIn you, my heart has found a home”
Ella Eyre. Together.
I’ve always been fascinated by life and the weird way it all works out, expecially when it comes to the people you get the chance to meet and the experiences we end up gaining.
Decisions are interesting. In a day, we make thousands of decisions. Decisions like what time to get up, what to wear, what to eat, which pen to use and where you want to get gas, etc. Most decisions we don’t think too much of because they’re just simple, trivial choices. Sometimes you get to make one decision, whether it be large or small, that will direct your life onto a path you never imagined even existed for you.
I tend to think about the good things and wonderful people in my life quite a bit. I remind myself that I’m just so grateful for them. I think about what I could have possibly done to get to this place in my life. I’m in a place that seems so wonderful, I can’t believe it. How could it be that everything in the world aligned itself so perfectly for me to get somewhere that I can call home? With people that I have come to know as my family?
There’s this really cool TedTalk by Amy Cuddy called “Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are” in which she discusses how so very often our lives are taken into an unpredicted whirlwind and somehow manage to drop us off in the exact place we were meant to be. In her talk, Cuddy mentions that a point in our lives exists where we think, “I’m not supposed to be here.” That very thought can accurately describe how I have felt toward the chance occurrences that have led me to the place that I am now.
I had never heard of Berry until it came time to start applying to college. It was also the most far-off option considering the price tag. I applied for all of the major scholarship programs here, including the Bonner Scholars Program. Unforeseen bumps came up along the way, and on the day of my interview, things didn’t look like they would work out. The life I imagined for myself would stay in the recesses of my mind as a dream never to come true.
Needless to say, I was given the opportunity to be a Bonner and serve the Rome/Floyd community all the while working towards my bachelors degree. This was monumental considering where I could have ended up.
Getting accustomed to a new place without anyone I knew was very difficult. I felt like a complete outsider, not being able to fit in with everyone who could afford all of these nice clothes and drive these insanely reflective, lavish cars. I would wake up with the constant thought that I didn’t belong here. I knew I was here for a reason, but I wasn’t fully sure of that reason yet. Berry didn’t feel like home. I felt like an intruder.
Slowly, somehow my eyes finally opened, and I saw that I was home.
Home for me is where my heart feels most alive. My heart is most alive with the people that I love and care for most. All of this has come to be as a result of mere miraculous chances perfectly aligned. Chances which have allowed me the opportunity to meet people that bring out the best in me. When I analyze who I’ve become all because of those I can trust with the most vulnerable parts of my soul, I realize just how these relationships could have easily never been established. If one small decision were not made, I wouldn’t be the same. Agreeing to a new living arrangement with my soul-mate roommate, going to get waffle house to plan Senior prom with my best friend in the whole entire world, taking a chance and getting out of my comfort zone to join a club that has changed my life, adding one class that has led me to one of my favorite people, and so many more…
“Don’t take anything for granted, for the rest of my life, I’ll be living for you.”
My Brothers and I. Granted
Thank you, all for giving me a home. For giving me a place to belong. For letting me know you and love you in this world where so much happens by mere chance. I’m forever indebted to the chances that have brought me in this direction that my life is going, with you.
With all my love,
Jasmine.