“I hopped off the plane at LAX with a dream and my cardigan.” Yes, these are Miley Cyrus lyrics, but they also perfectly described my life in September of 2012. I was so nervous, but excited at the same time as I moved from my small town in Pennsylvania to California. This was a new chapter in my life and I had no idea what to expect; I just knew that I needed a change. My aunt and uncle lived in Camarillo, CA and had always welcomed me to stay with them. I finally decided that I would take them up on the offer and I left on September 4.
“You have to call me every day,” my mom sobbed as she hugged me outside of the departure gate at the Baltimore airport. She was going to be a mess while I was gone. I already knew that she was terrified of my leaving, but somehow she accepted the fact that this was something that I needed to do. I was unsure about my future and needed some time away from college to figure out what I wanted for myself. Luckily, my parents are supportive and completely understood my taking the semester off.
I looked down at my outfit: skinny jeans, a tank top, cardigan, and gladiator sandals. I knew that my clothes were in style in Pennsylvania, but did California have a different dress code? I was more anxious about being judged for my clothes than anything else at that moment. What if I didn’t fit in?
The flight went by quickly and as we flew over LA, preparing to land, my stomach had butterflies unlike anything that I had ever felt before. Actually, using butterflies to explain my feeling isn’t even suiting. My nerves were like hummingbirds in my stomach, their wings beating as fast as possible. I was arriving at 10:20 PM, so all that I saw was a huge city full of bright lights when I looked out my window. I had arrived.
My uncle picked me up at the airport and we made small talk as we drove the 45 minutes back to his house. I hadn’t seen him in over a year so the conversation was somewhat awkward and pushed. Because of all the excitement that day, I was exhausted. Falling asleep in my new bed that night was not a problem, I passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow.
The following morning I woke up early to unpack and go for a run. I wanted to explore my new town, so I set out early to jog around the development. After becoming familiar with the housing, I ventured out into Camarillo. I found out that there was a Starbucks that was only a 5 minute walk from my house; score! At home I had to drive 45 minutes to get to a Starbuck’s coffee, so this was unreal to me. Not only that, there were huge shopping outlets right across the highway from our house. I could walk over to shop anytime that I wanted. This is when I became obsessed with the Camarillo Outlets. There were more stores in these outlets than anywhere that I had ever shopped before. I was in complete awe. Plus, as I was looking at the clothing my stress was relieved. The styles were the same as they had been at home!
After exploring for a few hours I decided to go back to the house. My uncle was at work but my aunt was home with my cousins, Ivy and Melody. As I walked into the house, I was attacked by the two little girls who instantly started climbing on me. Ivy is 5 years old and Melody is 3, so they are full of energy. Ivy’s hair was like a lions mane, unruly and wild.
She looked up at me with her bright green eyes and said “Rachel, I love you,” and completely melted my heart.
These kids were too adorable, I could walk to amazing shopping, and I was close to LA. I loved everything about Camarillo. I spent the day unpacking and catching up with my aunt. She was pregnant, so we spent a lot of time talking about the girls and the new baby that was on the way. My day couldn’t have been more perfect. This was the first day of my new life and I was already more than excited about.
We talked for a few hours and then she realized what time it was. “It’s almost 3 0‘clock! We have to go pick up Kent from work. Do you want to come along?” my aunt asked me.
“How far is it from the house?” I was really tired and felt like I should take a nap instead of going anywhere else for the day.
“It’s only a 10 minute drive. You’ll get to see the beach!”
That made up my mind. I was riding along. The drive was exactly 10 minutes and after only 5 I could smell the ocean. The beach, any beach, is my favorite place to be. Because of this, as soon I smelled the ocean my stomach was taken over by those hummingbirds again. We parked right beside a sand dune and I helped get the girls out of their car seats while trying to contain my excitement. We took off our sandals and stepped onto the warm sand. The girls ran toward the water and like a child, I followed.
As a wave came in and the icy cold water touched my toes, I felt nothing but relief. My first year of college wasn’t a waste. I didn’t regret it nor did I wish that I was sitting in a class room at that very moment. I was happy where I was and realized that taking off that semester wasn’t something to be ashamed of. I needed to figure out my life and this experience was going to help me do just that. With no regrets, I stood there looking at the ocean and knew that I was where I was supposed to be.
No comments:
Post a Comment