We All Come From Somewhere

           I can still remember the low lit restaurant, my dad’s face lit by the single bulb hanging overhead our little booth. The smell of fried food still in the air, my nervous hands toying with my straw trying to find something useful to do other than think. My dad smiled at me, the warm, knowing kind of smile that already knows the answer he is about to ask. What did I think? We had just come from the college I had flown halfway across the country to visit. We hadn’t even taken the tour yet, but had just come from a special, Meet the President, time where the president of the university had shared the vision of the school.

My dad and I had arrived late, after getting lost (before google maps on phones). We were walking in when a man in jeans, and a button up shirt, opened the door for us and welcomed us. I thought he must be there to help, and he warmly talked to us before walking in alongside us into the auditorium. To my shock, he walked up onto the stage. He WAS the president.

          That night, I walked away from that school and knew from there forward, my life was about to change. To answer my dad’s question - yes. Yes this was it, this was the school I was about to commit the next season of my life, money and time to. The weight of that choice, the reality of it hit me, and the fact that I knew the answer was yes, scared me more than not knowing. Admitting the time had come was the hardest part.

5 years later, I passed that same spot today. My life is very different from that moment, which still remains in the memory of that little booth and the fried food probably still lingers. I have by no means arrived or made it, but I have grown far beyond what I once was. Here is the greatest joy of all, no matter who you are, or who you meet, remember we all come from somewhere. The president knew that, my dad knew that, and now I know that.

Don’t ever put yourself above someone, because after all, you were them a few years earlier. Cherish the small beginnings, and treat everyone, no matter their standings or power, with the same respect of the human being they are, because at the end of the day, we all come from somewhere.