If you would have asked me a year ago, the words daring and fearless meant not being afraid to say hi to a stranger. Now they have a whole new meaning. It’s crazy to me that the journey life takes us through have a way of defying what we know to be truth.
My entire life I have been a small town girl. I worked at our only grocery store in town, value that the only places open past 11:30 pm are Waffle House and Speedway, and thrived on the feeling of security and authenticity. These small town ideals are the basis of my being and some of my most cherished qualities.
I want to make this very clear before you read on: I DO NOT LIKE CHANGE. I read somewhere once that people who are very successful enjoy change. I do not believe this; I believe that people who are very successful are able to effectively deal with change.
When I was a senior in high school I was a little stubborn and a lot conceited. I had dreams of going to a small private out-of-state college where I intended to re-create my high school experience. There is nothing wrong with small private colleges, don’t get me wrong, but that was the only vision I had for myself and any other ideas were wrong.
After a lot of collaboration, tears, and heartbreaks, my family decided that my best course of action was to go to community college for a year. Like any senior high school student, ready and ambitious to conquer the world on my own, I was not happy with my parent’s decision to urge me to go to community college.
Encouraging me to attend Sinclair Community College was one of the best things that my parents have ever done for me. Throughout this transitional phases of my life I learn more and more everyday that my parents have put my sister and I first through out their entire lives, making sure that we have successful futures that are full of unending joy. Their unconditional love has always been my rock in times of need and I am very thankful to have strong support system (even when I am a brat).
Even though I wasn’t always thrilled about it, I did not take my time at Sinclair for granted. I established networking connections, made new friends, and did not pass up any opportunities that could expand my future career. As I went, I found myself learning not only about myself but also about the world around me. I began to process life differently and, as naïve as this may sound; I started to realize that everyone around me was not just like me.
With Sinclair being only thirty-five minutes away from my house I started to wonder what the world would be like an hour from my house, maybe even two hours from my house. My dream of going to a small college transcended into continuing my education at The Ohio State University.
On August 17th, 2013, my life changed and moved to The Ohio State University’s campus. I moved into an unfamiliar house, with unfamiliar people, in an unfamiliar town. Being honest, this transition was not easy for me. Not being accepted into clubs, not having a firm support system, and realizing I wasn’t as ready for this change as I thought I was had been hard for me. I had to learn some hard life lessons, and I was forced to learn them fast. I had never been anywhere where I felt so alone, yet so many people surrounded me.
Throughout these changes I started to grasp the concept of difference. Never in my life have I experienced more diversity of race, culture, dialect, religion, and life. And it was BEAUTIFUL.
I have never grown as a person more than when I began to intentionally embrace others’ cultures and experiences. This is one of the greatest gifts OSU has given me, which has led me to want to pursue studying abroad.
This being said, I now long to experience more of life in an all-encompassing way. If someone were to ask me what fearless and daring meant today I’d tell them: Daring is to be so curious about life that you won’t stop at the word no, and fearless is being able to soak in the unknown without restraint.
My entire life I have been a small town girl. I worked at our only grocery store in town, value that the only places open past 11:30 pm are Waffle House and Speedway, and thrived on the feeling of security and authenticity. These small town ideals are the basis of my being and some of my most cherished qualities.
I want to make this very clear before you read on: I DO NOT LIKE CHANGE. I read somewhere once that people who are very successful enjoy change. I do not believe this; I believe that people who are very successful are able to effectively deal with change.
When I was a senior in high school I was a little stubborn and a lot conceited. I had dreams of going to a small private out-of-state college where I intended to re-create my high school experience. There is nothing wrong with small private colleges, don’t get me wrong, but that was the only vision I had for myself and any other ideas were wrong.
After a lot of collaboration, tears, and heartbreaks, my family decided that my best course of action was to go to community college for a year. Like any senior high school student, ready and ambitious to conquer the world on my own, I was not happy with my parent’s decision to urge me to go to community college.
Encouraging me to attend Sinclair Community College was one of the best things that my parents have ever done for me. Throughout this transitional phases of my life I learn more and more everyday that my parents have put my sister and I first through out their entire lives, making sure that we have successful futures that are full of unending joy. Their unconditional love has always been my rock in times of need and I am very thankful to have strong support system (even when I am a brat).
Even though I wasn’t always thrilled about it, I did not take my time at Sinclair for granted. I established networking connections, made new friends, and did not pass up any opportunities that could expand my future career. As I went, I found myself learning not only about myself but also about the world around me. I began to process life differently and, as naïve as this may sound; I started to realize that everyone around me was not just like me.
With Sinclair being only thirty-five minutes away from my house I started to wonder what the world would be like an hour from my house, maybe even two hours from my house. My dream of going to a small college transcended into continuing my education at The Ohio State University.
On August 17th, 2013, my life changed and moved to The Ohio State University’s campus. I moved into an unfamiliar house, with unfamiliar people, in an unfamiliar town. Being honest, this transition was not easy for me. Not being accepted into clubs, not having a firm support system, and realizing I wasn’t as ready for this change as I thought I was had been hard for me. I had to learn some hard life lessons, and I was forced to learn them fast. I had never been anywhere where I felt so alone, yet so many people surrounded me.
Throughout these changes I started to grasp the concept of difference. Never in my life have I experienced more diversity of race, culture, dialect, religion, and life. And it was BEAUTIFUL.
I have never grown as a person more than when I began to intentionally embrace others’ cultures and experiences. This is one of the greatest gifts OSU has given me, which has led me to want to pursue studying abroad.
This being said, I now long to experience more of life in an all-encompassing way. If someone were to ask me what fearless and daring meant today I’d tell them: Daring is to be so curious about life that you won’t stop at the word no, and fearless is being able to soak in the unknown without restraint.