I Have Arrived

This initiating blog post is long overdue, considering I have been living in New York City for almost three weeks now. Despite my tardiness, I feel the need to announce the start of my new beginning and how grateful I am for the opportunities that lay before me.

Like countless others from across the world, I relocated my life in pursuit of my dreams. From studying magazine journalism to providing personal training and all events experienced in between, I am heading wide-eyed and curious toward my future career. Just before leaving my suburban North Carolina home in early August, I expressed my excitement for this new forward momentum to my father. He thoughtfully turned to me and said, “It’s great to have goals for the future, but it’s important to not put them off for too long because you never know when your time will run out.” His statement seemed morose at first, but then I considered it from a different angle, an angle that several dear friends of mine can relate to currently.

Unfortunately, one of my lovely Carolina girls truly understands what it feels like to run out of time. Her father, an optimistic and loving man, was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer in late May and given months to live after experienceing symptoms that seemed as simple as intestinal discomfort. Her family pulled tighter together than ever to fight his battle alongside him until he passed August 4. Their  undying strength and love made each of his last days some of the best of his life. No time was taken for granted, no opportunity was lost. While the healing process for the family will be far from easy, they recognize that their memories have no time limit, providing them the amazing ability to endure the grieving process they now face.

On a different note, one of the most important men in my life recently received a new beginning of his own just as he was beginning to think his time was up. After fighting frustrating standardized testing that poorly represented his true aptitude for the field, he earned his long-awaited acceptance to medical school. His ability to let his passion for helping others prevail over feelings of hopelessness and failure brought him the ultimate change in luck and an uplifting sense of accomplishment. Ecstatic and self-assured, he will begin his coursework in January, and I have no doubt in my mind that he will become one of the best physicians practicing in New York. I beam with pride just thinking about how deserving he is of this achievement, this chance at happiness, this new allotment of time.

After witnessing the extreme fortune and misfortune of those around me throughout the past few weeks, I find a renewed sense of motivation within myself to forever push forward to achieve my goals and ultimate happiness. I want to take full advantage of all of my days, hours, minutes and seconds while I have them. I also want to do the growing process justice for those whose time was cut short, whether from cancer, a car accident or a loss of motivation.

Let life begin.