Realization

Sunday, August 8, 2016 12:30 A.M.

I’ll always be terrified, but sometimes being scared can be the best feeling we can ever experience.

That is why I can officially say that I am ready for Brazil.

After spending a weekend surrounded by my dad’s side of the family, I realized that there isn’t anything to be afraid of. People change, and life goes on and that shouldn’t be a reason for me to stay. For so long I have tried to please everyone around me and have always forgotten to do what I want to do with my life. Yes, I want to attend college and earn a degree, but college will always be there. There will always be a college out there that is interested in me, whether that is community, in-state, public, out-of-state, private, liberal, etc. College is college and it only becomes what I want it to be when I make it what I want. On the other hand, an opportunity such as Brazil is once in a lifetime and for that reason I know that I have to follow through with this opportunity.

I mean, I did apply, didn’t I? I made the initiative to start the application, interview and complete the application when I could have just easily committed to a college. I hope to come back from Brazil and attend UCSD but for now, all I can do is enjoy the ride. Enjoy the adrenaline and fear of being lost and alone because that is a life changing opportunity of independence that will prepare me for life after college.

I know I can do it.

I will. And I will do it bravely, even though tears will fall and an aching pain to return home will arise.


-Alo