A few years ago, I was asked, "What do you have to be thankful for?" I was first thrown off by this question because you normally hear it during the holidays (i.e THANKSgiving and Christmas), but this was just an ordinary email from an old friend. I thought about it, gave a quick answer and continued with my day. However, I continue to think about my answer then and my answer now. While there are enormous differences, one thing remained constant: the people in my life. I have had incredible luck in being able to call certain people in my life "family", and not in just the literal meaning of being blood related.
I come from a very complicated past, one that resulted in a very slim number of blood-related family members being a part of my life. As a result, I found myself making my OWN family, one that included the people in my life who most wished to see me succeed and more importantly, be a part of that success. Even though I don't have my own set of parents, at Bowdoin I have found more pairs of parents that any other person I know. I like to think I'm the lucky one because most people have two parents, sometimes four with remarriages, but me, I have double that. In addition to that, I get to CHOOSE my siblings. Yeah, talk about winning! There are countless people in my life these days that I consider family and man, do I have a great family. So, I'm grateful for what happened in my past because I was presented with an amazing opportunity to create my own family.
I'm also most grateful for the opportunities that have come my way. Thinking about my past 6 months alone, I have to really take it all in. I often lose sight of everything I've done. From living in India this summer working on a project with the most amazing students I've ever met to traveling all around Europe/Greece this semester. I never imagined that at 20 I would have done the things I have done. I forget to slow down and embrace that sometimes. I am grateful because what I've been through has made me the incredibly strong person I am today.
I wanted to give a few shout outs and thanks to the following:
Casey Family
Amaez/Purnell Family
Kitch/Cooper Family
Elmer and Nicole
Rhoan
Scott, Claudia and the Admissions staff
Matoin Family
Otrickey Family ;D
My Bowdoin Lovelies
Caron Family
Dean of Student Affairs office
McKeen Center
Sakina
I come from a very complicated past, one that resulted in a very slim number of blood-related family members being a part of my life. As a result, I found myself making my OWN family, one that included the people in my life who most wished to see me succeed and more importantly, be a part of that success. Even though I don't have my own set of parents, at Bowdoin I have found more pairs of parents that any other person I know. I like to think I'm the lucky one because most people have two parents, sometimes four with remarriages, but me, I have double that. In addition to that, I get to CHOOSE my siblings. Yeah, talk about winning! There are countless people in my life these days that I consider family and man, do I have a great family. So, I'm grateful for what happened in my past because I was presented with an amazing opportunity to create my own family.
I'm also most grateful for the opportunities that have come my way. Thinking about my past 6 months alone, I have to really take it all in. I often lose sight of everything I've done. From living in India this summer working on a project with the most amazing students I've ever met to traveling all around Europe/Greece this semester. I never imagined that at 20 I would have done the things I have done. I forget to slow down and embrace that sometimes. I am grateful because what I've been through has made me the incredibly strong person I am today.
I wanted to give a few shout outs and thanks to the following:
Casey Family
Amaez/Purnell Family
Kitch/Cooper Family
Elmer and Nicole
Rhoan
Scott, Claudia and the Admissions staff
Matoin Family
Otrickey Family ;D
My Bowdoin Lovelies
Caron Family
Dean of Student Affairs office
McKeen Center
Sakina
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