Who I am.

One of my favorite quotes is “Don’t forget where you came from, but never lose sight of where you are going.” This quote can be interpreted in so many different ways and I think that is what drew me to it. In this instance I interpreted it as meaning, learn from your past but never lose hope of what lies in the future. Sometimes, you have to learn from your past in more ways than one, and sometimes you don’t even realize what you are learning until it reveals itself all at once.

When you lose a best friend that you had growing up, you think it is the worst thing in the world. You don’t see how someone you loved and trusted for so many years could just turn their back on you so easily. It hurts, and it hurts a lot. You think that nothing will ever get any easier, and for a while it doesn't.  You have to learn to live your life in a completely different way. One without someone in it that you went to for everything, all of the sudden you feel like you have no one to turn to.

Sometimes this lasts for only a couple weeks, but other times it will last years.

 I lost my best friend at the very beginning of my freshman year of college. Ever since then I have felt like I would never be as close to someone as I was with that girl. But then I began to look around me and I saw the changes that happened right before my eyes that I never noticed before. I have amazing people surrounding me and in my life. Some have been there always and some are brand new. But they are the type of people that I know will stick around forever.

I am a junior in college and I am just starting to feel like I have found my place. I remember wandering around all through high school and some elementary school even, and always thinking I am not particularly extraordinary at anything. I was good at a lot of things, but nothing ever struck my interest and made me think “I was BORN to do this.” Now that I am in college and into my degree classes, I had that epiphany the first week of school. I was born to be a teacher. I love being around kids and I love learning new things, but most importantly I love being able to show things from a different viewpoint. One many might not have thought about before. It was then that I realized your friends, your true friends, are the ones that not only share your interests but also the things you believe in. They believe in other things too of course, and so do you, but you share a common thread that links you together. You share a passion. And that passion is what will bring you close to each other.

So all of those who feel like you haven’t found your place in this world, and the ones who feel like you have no friends. Just wait, your time will come and it will all be worth it. Trust me, I know. To those people who have been in my life all along and never given up on me. Thank you. You made me the person I am today. To the people who are new in my life, thank you. I know our adventure together is just beginning and I cannot wait to see where it takes us on this beautiful journey called life. 

Hadley