Lying flat on the top bunk of the bed in the dorm, tears dropped sideways from my eyes.
It was the last day of my summer program. I jumped out of bed at 4 AM to say farewell to my closest friends I’d bonded with.
After grabbing ultra-early breakfast, we stood aligned and put our arms on each other’s shoulders for our last picture. Our arms weren’t willing to let go, but the universe had different plans for us.
As the last one to leave the campus due to my late flight, watching my friends drift from me to the sunset was torture. As they left one by one, my heart decomposed piece by piece.
When I was leaving, the sky was purple and it felt like the end of the world, as if I was checkmated by the destiny.
I’ve recently been rewinding this memory, especially while filling in UC application.
A lot of people come and go in our lives. No one’s here to stay with us forever, but this doesn’t make their value any less than they should be. During their time in our lives they make priceless impressions on us – something I keep learning to appreciate everyday.
Knowing how much people have helped me in this lifelong journey, I hope to do the same with people around me. For instance, knowing how many of my classmates had been stressed and depressed about university application, I decided to dress up as Garfield to cheer them up. While spending the whole day in the 6’1 Garfield costume was tiresome, the “Troy, you made my day!” was worth of all the trouble. Recently, I also created an Instagram account, quotes.of.troy, which shares philosophical quotes of my energy and good vibes to let people around me know that they are not alone. Even though we may be alone in our lives at times, Loneliness will never outduel happiness.