time to tell a story...
...about a girl who moved to Boston.
She moved, expecting the unexpected.
Here are some of things she learned, and some of the experiences she had, the first month in her new world.
The day she arrived it was warmer than the home she left in the South. The next two days it was very, very cold. It snowed quite a few inches on her first day of school, but school wasn’t cancelled. She quickly learned how to layer, put on long johns, walk in the snow, work a steam heater, and she’s still working on how to not blow out the fuse in her small city apartment when she dries her hair.
Almost immediately she found someone that she thought was going to last. Almost immediately she decided it wasn’t. She learned that your heart can break even if you aren’t in love – it can break if you are simply in love with the idea of love again and get let down.
She learned that the person she left behind wasn’t as easy to let go as she hoped, and realized that until she finds someone new, she won’t get over him.
She shares classrooms with people from Scotland, the Virgin Islands, Sweden, Korea, France, Japan, countless other countries, and virtually every state in the US. Speaking to all these people have made her much more aware of how enormous her world is. A guy in her ear training class is from Milledgeville and knows her friends Davistreet; a girl she met at a party is from Decatur and knows her friends the Escape Artists. Speaking to these people made her much more aware of how small her world is.
She often passes John Stevens, one of the top six from the last American Idol competition, on “campus.” He is now just another face in the crowd pursuing the Berklee dream.
She has played three open mics. Through these experiences, her fears that she was only good in Georgia – or to her parents or to her friends – were relieved. She understands that she has talent that can be appreciated everywhere and that she needs to do everything she can to utilize it.
Despite her terrible sense of direction, she quickly learned to navigate the “T” – the subway system in Boston – and found out that if you hand the T money collector 25 pennies, 8 dimes, and 4 nickels, he will not be happy and tell you to put it in the box. When you ask what the box is he will not be happy. When you put it in the box and go back and smile at him waiting for direction, he will not be happy and will tell you to go through the gate.
Though it has been hard at times, she’s learning to ignore the Northern attitudes.
She often misses Athens, but never wishes she had stayed. The only real thing she left that she can’t have in Boston is her band. She knows that all of her strong relationships won’t fade away due to geography. The ones that are were never going to last even if she had stayed. She has a fairly good idea of who she will be in touch with from her life in Athens years from now. The list is small, and though she understands that’s what life is like, the lost friendships still hurt.
She knows that she is going to gain a ridiculous amount of knowledge from her amazing school and the people around her. She is happy to be in Boston. She loves her roommate, her neighbors, her street, her old fashioned elevator, the mild winter, and you.
She loves you and misses you.
And so the story continues…
Understands that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you'll need the people you knew when you were young.