Well, its been a little over a month since graduation and I feel as if I’m living in a weird stage of transition. I’m not a kid anymore, as clearly shown my the piece of paper issued to me by Samford University on May 17, 2009, but I don’t feel like an adult quite yet either. Law school is rapidly approaching and I have been busying myself reading books that promise to reveal all the secrets of success in a graduate program that promises difficulties and challenges every step of the way. I applied for a ridiculous amount of student loan money and a new apartment to live in by myself and in a little over a month the next phase of my life will begin. I know these next three years will be like nothing I have ever experienced, but I think I am ready to tackle this challenge and definitely ready for the opportunities the successful completion of law school will provide.
While I was cleaning my room today, which if you know me at all you know is an odd commodity, but it is father’s day and my messiness does distress my father so it was the least I could do, I stumbled across a jewelry box that I haven’t opened in years. Inside it, I found a small silver ring with six tiny diamonds on it that I haven’t worn since my junior year in high school, and suddenly I was transported back to a different place in a different time. When I was a sophomore in high school, I fell for the boy down the street, hard and fast. Our relationship was a roller coaster of emotion and through the happy and the sad, at the time, I hoped it would never end. I had never really experienced love in such a way before and when it came crashing down (as most high school relationships do), I felt as if my world was collapsing around me and I wasn’t quite sure how to pick up the pieces and move forward. But I did, as we all do when bad things happen. I think my mind went into cruise control and kept moving without me. While I was wallowing in the angst of my first broken heart, I kept going, kept getting out of bed, and eventually time healed the pain. Stumbling across the ring took me back to high school and the plans I had for myself. If my plan had unfolded as I intended, we would have attended the University of Alabama together, just graduated and have had plans to get married sometime in the near future. It’s funny how things never work out as we intend for them to. However, remembering the past, I have no regrets. I fondly remember all the happy times and am able to laugh at the ridiculousness of the stupid fights and arguments that constantly plagued a relationship driven by emotion. I’ll always remember him as the first one who could bring butterflies to my stomach and a smile to my face every time I saw that red truck pulling into the driveway. While I have definitely cared about people since my junior year in high school, I have come to the realization that nothing will make you feel like your first love. The first love is a magical experience and it is never to be repeated, however, if you allow it, it will prepare you for bigger and better things down the road.
