Nothing Lasts Forever | #Scholarship2015

Chapter One

            "Most everyone has a daily regimen that they follow like gospel. In mathematics, this would be considered commutative property:

                          1+2+3+4+5=15

          1.) Drive to school

         2.) Walk in the doors

         3.) Go to class

        4.) Walk out the doors

        5.) Drive home

                       5+4+3+2+1=15

           Some equations include multiplication, subtraction, division...brushing our teeth, eating our meals, changing our clothes.

           For instance; I wake up at 5am every morning, convince my grandmother to take her pills and stop for a medium vanilla iced coffee on the way to class. Then, I park in the very first spot in the very last row of the lot.

            I'm not alone in this repetition. The gentleman next door starts his truck at exactly 5:30 every morning. I know this because the engine makes a loud roaring noise, like a beast that has just been rudely awakened. He never fixes it. Maybe he likes the loudness. Maybe it adds to his masculinity.

          The problem with repetition is the absence of observation. This force of habit, the expectation of what should happen, is what ruins us.

           Lou Holtz once said, "You're either growing or you're dying." This, I wholeheartedly believe.

          Just under a year ago, I chose to completely turn my world upside down.

          If someone had told me that I would quit golf, abandon my friends, transfer schools, and play home-nurse, I would have laughed. Golf was my life. GCHS was my home. But these things happened.

          Initially, I was an outsider. I was drowning in an ocean of nameless faces and I didn't show any signs of stopping. I have grown a lot since then though and, with a newly opened mind, have come to significant realizations that I otherwise wouldn't have.

              Realization #1: True friends remain at your side, no matter the difficulties or distance.

             Realization #2: Failure is only failure if you let it define you.

             Realization #3: You can't get hung up in the security blanket of something or someone.

             And perhaps most important...

            Realization #4: Every sacrifice comes with a benefit, even if it isn't obvious at first.

            My Grandmother has survived a lot. She was parent-less before her eighteenth birthday. Her husband left her with bills to pay and four children to raise. She watched her siblings succumb to illness and stood at their funerals when their ailments couldn't be fought.

          Two years ago, she called me her best friend. Two years ago, I left her so that I could go to a better school. Even though she would miss me, it was my future she had in mind.

          Now, it's my turn to think of hers.

          She doesn't always remember me. Sometimes my name is Kimberly. Sometimes she loves me. Other times, she curses my existence. There are moments in between though, where she's the person that I've always known; those are the moments that I live for.