f by Victoria

f by Victoria - February 2014 Scholarship Essay

"Forty is the old age of youth; fifty the youth of old age" said Victor Hugo. After consideration of this quote, it became apparent that we, as human beings, are constantly 'dying' out of one era and 'being born' in another. Quite accurately one could simply change the ages represented and say that thirteen is the old age of childhood; fourteen the youth of adolescence. One could also say that seventeen is the old age of adolescence; eighteen the youth of adulthood. We are constantly shifting from one time in our lives to another; being young and naive here, old and experienced there. This notion has caused me to really consider what I do in each era of my life.

When I was thirteen, leaving the world and culture of children and moving into 'youth', I thought about what I had done to help others in the world. I could never again be eleven or twelve, and I could never again help my friends the way an eleven or twelve year old could. Adults and teenagers can only do so much, our peers are the ones who truly influenced us. I resolved to approach my teenage years with more of an involved perspective, being the peer who could help my friends make better decisions with their lives. Since then, I have sat down with many of my friends. I was able to help and advise them through situations or, most importantly, just listen.

Each part of our lives is like a diamond, and where we are in that part of life is like a facet of each diamond. Through time and experience, the diamonds turn. One may notice that when a diamond is shined on, the light reflects and shines through many facets. However, it only shines brightest through the facet that the light is focused on. When the diamond turns, the facet focused on changes. Each shining diamond has the ability to light up someone's life, to make them smile or even heal emotional wounds. Consider how many diamonds we have in life; age, occupation, mindset, experiences, etc. We have a limited amount of time to reflect our unique light, our unique perspective on others and help them to reach the place they need to be. Surely it is crucial to help as many others shine as we can!

I want to help change people's lives for the better through counseling as much as possible. I want to reflect God's light through my facets to help others shine brilliantly. Anyone knows there's nothing quite as effective as the proper timing, and sometimes that means being in the right era. Thus, as the era of adolescence passes, as I die forever to that time and approach adulthood, I look back on what I have done with the time I have had. Could I call the passing era the stone age or the gilded age? Victor Hughes quote has really helped me to put my life in the context of 'what have I done with this era?' 'How have I worked during this time frame with the abilities I have now to help the people around me live better and happier?'

I am an old child, in a manner of speaking, and I am an infant adult. My life is made up of smaller lifetimes. So many reach the end of their days and lament that they did not do as much as they could to improve things. So many reach the end of high school and lament that they did not use the time they had to find their passion. This will not be me. I will forever be mindful that 'forty is the old age of youth; fifty the youth of old age', and ensure that when I hit forty, I can look back upon a receding era and say "I did well with the time I had." Because if I do that with my 'mini-lifetimes', imagine how much I can do by the end of my complete lifetime.