Living the Dream

It's my first day in Cambridge, MA.

I'm exhausted. It takes a flight to Toronto, customs, and then a connecting flight to get to Boston from Vancouver. The first flight I was sandwiched between two larger people who really loved their arm rests.

I'll admit I felt anxious. But on the flight from Toronto to Boston, as I sat in my window seat, the sunrise suddenly broke through and flooded my vision, and I remembered an episode I had almost forgotten about.

Back in eighth grade, my family took a trip to Toronto to drop my brother off for university, much like the trip we're on right now. I remember getting on the plane for the ride home. I sat by myself, my parents together in the row behind me. Of course, my brother remained in Toronto as the plane took off.

I sat there feeling lonely. My big brother had just embarked into a foreign world, full of difficulties beyond the understanding of a high schooler. But as I sat there, I remember staring out the window in a day-dreamy sort of way, the light hitting my face, and all I could think was:

I'll leave Vancouver too.

Prior to that day, I hadn't had any complex plans about university. I thought maybe I would attend UBC, and that's as far as I reached. However, then and there I imagined what my life would be like if I left. Independence, excitement, new friendships and new opportunities... in the warm sunshine it was such an incredibly beautiful dream that for the rest of high school, I couldn't shake off the desire to go beyond the confines of my hometown.

(At the time, I think my goals were U of T, or McGill. How along the way I ended up applying to Harvard is another story.)

And today, as I sat on the tarmac with the sun in my face getting ready to head to Harvard, I couldn't help but feel that I'd caught that light.

-cookielime