On my own... Almost

It’s interesting how many different individuals come and go through an airport, each with their own destination and story. Kids are running rampant with no care in the world, laptops are open everywhere, phones constantly in use. This is such a technology run world. I guess it’s no wonder that many apocalyptic premises are set with an ultimate loss of power and all things electronic. There would be panic, blood would be had- can you imagine how the stock market would crash? not that it would really matter anymore. Money had never really been worth anything more than a number on a screen and a piece of paper. All gone, and really who would be surprised that chaos would ensue to bring the world down into corruption and destruction?

But anyways, I digress. Airports is on my mind because I am currently stuck in one for about six hours until my plane leaves. So I figured, I’ve got time, nothing better to do, why not update my blog? Certainly haven’t done that in a while. So here I am, in the Philadelphia airport, headed back home to Texas. Why am I so far from home? Well I’m glad you asked (I mean you didn’t, but you were probably thinking it, so I asked myself for you; considerate huh?).

I came on this excursion to go to my college’s summer orientation. I won’t go into details for boredom’s sake (who really cares about math and English placement tests, setting schedules, and taking student photo ID’s? again, considerate;), but I will say a little, because this trip was kind of monumental for me. This would be the first time I would really be travelling by myself.

Okay, so for many of you this may not be a big deal, but if you knew me, you would marvel that I’ve made it this far. I’m what many would call “directionally challenged”; not as bad as some, just not as capable as others. I have a hard enough time navigating the roads at home (wrong turns, passing up my exit, exiting too early, almost went down a one way even). So you can imagine the nervous looks I received when I announced that I would be flying from San Antonio to St. Louis, changing planes from there to Philly (met my brother for a day here, but then was soon on my own again as he had to leave early), then train to Glenside, walk to campus, find my room, leave the next morning back to the train, to the airport, to the right terminal, to Denver, change flights, and arrive back home. Sounds intimidating and confusing all right in a row like that, but so far, with God’s help and GPS, I’ve been able to survive. Hit a few bumps here and there, but made it.

This was an exciting experience. You hear a lot about how “you’re an adult now” and how “you have responsibilities now”, but really you don’t feel like you have that freedom until moments like this. In the question and answer session, someone (ok, me) asked if there was a curfew for when you had to be back at the dorms. At this they laughed and said of course not! you’re adults, so we’re not babysitting you. And that’s when it hit me. I could leave campus without having to be back at a certain time, without having to rely on somebody else to get back in. It was all up to what I decided. I tried this theory out while I was there. They allowed me to stay in one of their rooms, but orientation finished at about 4:30, so I had a key, and had the whole day to do whatever. So I decided to take a walk.

This walk ended up being a three hour long stroll with some disappointments along the way, but even though I was exhausted when I got back, I was happy. I didn’t have to check in, didn’t have to explain where I went, I just went back to the room and crashed. Orientation made me excited for a lot of things, but most of all, I’m excited to finally be starting my life as I take this 1700 miles away from home step forward. It will be hard, it will be expensive, but I am content to trust God and make this my first independent decision. Like I said, it may not seem like a big deal to some of you, but to me, it’s a great first step to make.