Moving On by Sruthi

Moving On by Sruthi - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

I adapt to change about as well as a fish adapts to being out of water. Unfortunately, change has been thrust upon me much too often this past year. So, I found myself being forced to adapt to new situations whether I wanted to or not. They say experience is the best teacher; in my case, however, another person’s experiences inadvertently taught me more than I could have learned on my own.

I have had a good relationship with my U.S. history teacher since the day we met. I always assumed that we were so close because we shared a love of Harry Potter, Lana del Rey, and history, but looking back, what brought us together more than anything else were the similar life experiences we had.

The first experience we shared was loss. Last fall, my teacher suffered a serious miscarriage that led to hospitalization. I had never experienced that kind of pain, neither physically nor emotionally, but I did my best to sympathize with her and provide any type of support she needed until could return to her regular lifestyle. Little did I know, a similar sensation of loss would hit me soon after. One of my uncles, whom I was very close to, passed away suddenly last fall as well. I finally understood what my teacher had gone through earlier in the year, and she reciprocated the support I had given her while I grieved.

The second experience we shared was moving on. Just a few months ago, I had an important decision to make. I had received acceptance letters from colleges all over the country, and I had to choose a college to attend. By the time I went to ask my teacher for advice, I had narrowed down my options to the University of Texas at Austin, which was a safe option that was close to home and was the top choice of many of my friends, and New York University, which was far away and quite frankly, a little daunting. My teacher smiled knowingly when I confronted her with this dilemma and told me that it was finally time to step out of my comfort zone. She reminded me that I could not continue playing it safe and sticking to what I knew if I wanted to accomplish anything extraordinary in life. With her help and guidance, I made the exciting (and terrifying) decision to move to New York City in the fall.

I soon found out that I would not be the only one leaving people behind in Texas. My teacher would be moving to Illinois after the school year ended. Like me, she was sad to part from people she became so close with, but we both knew that our futures were waiting for us elsewhere. We will both be taking our memories with us as we start new lives in new places next fall.

My U.S. history teacher and I share many things—mainly a passion for all things Harry Potter. We have exchanged Chocolate Frogs for Chocolate Wands and Gryffindor scarves for Slytherin socks. But, more importantly, we have shared experiences and exchanged stories, and that is what truly defines our bond. Without realizing it, she taught me how to adapt to change, something that I was scared of doing just one year ago. Now, I accept the losses that I face and move on, knowing that while the future may be uncertain, having somebody to depend on is definitely not.