This is a sponsored post as part of the Let your Natural Beauty Shine Through with Zeno & Her Campus program.
College is a time period consumed with doing what’s best for you: getting ready for your career, having fun with your friends, establishing your own mettle in the universe. It was during my sophomore year that I began experiencing a nagging feeling that my life was simply too dependent on my own success. Sometimes it felt overwhelming, like all the pressure to focus on myself wasn’t actually helping me at all. I felt a strapping inclination that the best thing I could do for myself was something that wasn’t about me. I became a mentor to a nine-year-old girl through Big Brothers Big Sisters because I wanted to help someone else succeed.
Two-and-a-half years later, and that girl is now teeny-boppin’ at 11. Our relationship has evolved from playing spelling games to trips to the zoo; and recently culminated with me sacrificing actual American dollars to see Never Say Never in 3D. I can’t say that it’s been all tigers and well-coiffed teen stars, though, because it’s not about the activities we do or the money we spend. Our relationship has brought up situations I just don’t know how to handle, tough questions I can’t answer, and guilt. I can’t say that I don’t often doubt myself and my actual positive impact on another. Her life is, of course, out of my hands, and I can only pepper in so much preaching in our conversations in the hope that it supports her.
For this occasion, I gave my little sister the Golden Ticket for people without driver’s licenses: we could go anywhere she wanted! She immediately settled on old-time hamburger joint Fuddruckers. Which as someone who abstains from red meat, is not one of my top choices. But as she enjoyed looking at every peeling picture on the wall, identifying every piece of celebrity paraphernalia that graced our C-shaped booth, I received something better than my preferred fish fare.
“Sometimes I feel like you’re the only person who understands me.”
It reads like a trite expression of preteen angst, but to me it was ultimate testament that I was making a difference in her life. This young girl that I sought out to help appreciated it. I felt a powerful rush of beauty, and it was from a place deep inside. The kind of beauty that you can’t claim for yourself with strategic plans, the flick of an eyeliner, or any other means within your grasp. It has to be bestowed on you, naturally, at the hands of someone else.
It feels better than anything I could’ve conjured for myself.