Safeguarding the Key

With each milestone, I find myself feeling more and more nervous that just as I make my way toward the final door to the East Coast, the key will slip out of my grasp and I will be sent back to my constricted world. The scheduled departure for Cornell University's cohort is June 18, exactly two weeks from today. Two weeks will provide many instances whereby I may lose the key, and this danger has been a constant fear in my mind until recently. 

Tonight, on May 4 in Pinole Middle School's new multi-purpose room, students and parents were provided with tentative itineraries and more details of the summer excursion. Most of the information presented was for the benefit of the parents, so that they may sleep more soundly while students are hard at work across the continent. Numerous lectures addressing the importance of punctuality and diligence set me on edge, and I worried that in the short time before the departure I would somehow manage to lose my scholarship. 

However, as I continued to listen to Don and Mr. Ramsey, my unease faded away; I realized how much I was looking forward to this trip, and that I would not lose this opportunity because I could not allow this golden door to slip from my grasp when I have come so far. I thought about everything that lay beyond the door: experiencing life at Cornell University, learning from a world-renowned professor, and—best of all-- meeting new people. Students of the Ivy League Connection will spend three weeks away from the wings of their parents and the comfort of home; the East Coast will seem a daunting land of unknowns, but is in fact a boundless trove of knowledge. The information and opportunity will be laid out, but the student must reach out in order to attain this information. One may have a key for the lock, but unless he reaches out, the door will not open if he wishes to proceed on his own feet. 

As Mr. Ramsey voiced, the plane rides and train trips are not chances to nap, but rather opportunities to reach out and broaden one's horizon. I look forward to these opportunities with great enthusiasm; as Alan Moore states, "Everybody has their story to tell." and I will safeguard my key of opportunity with all my might so that I may hear these stories, learn all I can, and of course share information of my own.