SEPARATION

                   Going from middle school to high school is a big step, however excelling from high school to college is an even bigger transition. For me it was more than just a transition it was more of a separation. A separation from childhood, the separation from the peer pressures of high school, the separation from having zero- responsibility. You become an adult; you become something new, exotic, fresh, and rich. You are full of ideas ready to enrich the world and people around you with your thoughts and capabilities. You are ready for your voice to be heard, the voice that will advocate for your beliefs. Your candle is lit, and the streets are ablaze for you to run along separating from those old juvenile days. 

                 I remember getting acceptance letters to countless schools, but being particularly interested in St. Johns University, located in Queens, New York. It was not St. Johns itself that lit my fuse, but rather the big city calling my name. The high towers, the colossal buildings, the black dirty streets filled with colorful bubble gum, and dirty paper wrappings. I wanted to feel free, I wanted to be in the fashion capital of the world. I prepped myself for this "easy transition". I lost weight to look like a model ( weighing 120Ibs). I bought designer clothes, school supplies, makeup, and anything that I thought good New Yorkers were in to. I arrived in a fifteen passenger van with many suitcases. My father and brothers were sad; they barely said one word to me during the trip there. It was just my dad, brothers, and I for years watching football games, and racing to eat party wings that only proved to burn taste buds. Once on campus, we made last minute arrangements. Kissing my dad goodbye was hard, I hated it and barely got sleep that night. Little did I know, the festivities of freshmen year only peeked around the corner.

Freshmen orientation soon began, breaking the barriers between college and high school life. School started by teaching international students, and other students foreign to culture about ethnicity, race, and how to accept one another. It was perfect! As months spiraled along, cliques formed, bills I had never heard of began knocking at my door, the economy was horrid, diminishing any chance of receiving decent loans and or scholarships. That year (2008) Barack Obama made history and was declared President of the United States, creating worldwide buzz and excitement. Becoming an adult was easy for some and harder for others. Some gained freshmen fifteen, while I lost freshmen fifteen. Walking the streets of NY is not a scene from sex and the city. Walking twenty blocks a day is stressful and tiresome. Classes were long and bore some. Trying to keep up with the crowd and the trends got exhausting. Being independent was not a transition, it was a new life style. I experienced and accomplished many things while in college. I learned about credit and how to maintain it, I learned  about street and book smarts, I was also well informed about good friends versus good associates. I braved being without my family on that cruel New York winter. I remember going to a broadway play alone on November 6, 2008. It was a cold, rainy, and somber night at the Nederlander Theatre.  As I watched the spectacles on stage, I sat brooding over whether this was all I wanted to be, another college student basking in cultism, gossip, and paying back crazy loans with the help of my single dad. NO!! I want to do good for me, my family, and country. I returned home for a couple of semesters before choosing to enter the service. This I knew would be the next transition to my new beginning. 

www.stjohns.edu

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