His eyes were iceberg blue; he wore a torn and tattered OD green coat in the whipping wind. His large, rough hands gripped a one-word cardboard sign that read, “Imagine.” A one-word cardboard sign that hit me like a bullet.
The light turned green. My heavy heart seemed to coarse through my veins all the way to my right foot and the gas petal mashed the floorboard. As I attempted to gulp down the frog in my throat, I imagined what his life must have encompassed, the roads he may have crossed to get to this street corner of humiliation. But as my mind turned this over and over again, I began to transition from not imagining this stranger’s life, but imagining my own Dad; and moreover, thinking of my life.
You could say I’ve been dealt an ace in a hand full of struggles. I’ve witnessed heart wrenching events, lent a helping hand when it was probably time to walk away, and poured my whole being into holding a family together, but I will always have the knowledge that came with those events. The more I thought about that sign, I realized this could have been anyone; it could have been my Dad; my hero in my life that almost didn’t make it. Or, it could have been me.
That cardboard sign has stuck with me throughout the years. Encouraging me to take a different perspective and ‘Imagine.’ I now crave travel. I crave stories. I crave the knowledge it takes to delve deeper into the hearts and minds of those surrounding me on this little planet called Earth. Education is my window of opportunity to stop imagining, and start doing. Start seeking cultures that need a voice, people that have faced injustice, and seeds of knowledge planted in the minds of those who do not know it yet. I’m an aspiring photojournalist that is out to change the world; to explore, write, and capture the moments, memories, and stories of people around the world. I have an incessant keyboard in my mind typing out accounts of the world through my eyes, and a higher education would allow me to excel in the pursuit of my dream.
I believe we each start life with a breath of hope. We don’t start with capturing charisma, eternal reassurance, or even the strength to love; we learn. We experience each avenue our life leads us, and sometimes we cross paths with a man on a street corner that makes us think, makes us imagine our path, and sometimes we come to a crossroads of freedom: college.
(This blog was originally posted at The Word Medic)
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