Isaac Julian

Comp II
Professor Davis
04/09/2019

This I believe

My strongest belief, that I hold dear, is that everything happens for a reason. I believe

that reason is to allow us, the human race, to become wiser, more humble, and more

compassionate towards others by learning and growing from these experiences. All of my

experiences, whether good or bad, and my determination to learn and grow from each of them, I

believe has helped mold me into the person I am today. It was not until my early twenties that I

had begun forming this strong belief of mine. I was just your slightly below average kid, who

refused to grow up and would regularly listen music like Simple Plan’s songs: “I’m just a kid, I

don’t wanna grow up, and Perfect” and I would often try to use these as an excuse whenever I

was in trouble, as if this had justified any wrong doing; moreover, my life was not heading in the

right direction at the time. It was not until I had come out of the closet, 8 years ago this

September, that I truly began laying the foundation of who I am as a person today.

At this point in my life, my self-esteem and confidence was at an all-time low. I was

taking medications for depression and anxiety and was very overweight, not to mention lonely

and desperate. About 2 and a half months after I had freed myself of the secret I had resting on

my shoulders, I began exploring the online dating scene; however, keep in mind that I was

young, lonely, and had unrealistic ideas about what love was. One day I had opened up my

“myyearbook.com” account to see if I had any new “matches” and found that I had a message
from a guy named Jeremy, who lived in Florida. We had begun chatting back and forth, which

lead to endless hours on the phone, which eventually lead to wanting to meet. After having been

on the phone with him for almost 7 hours one evening, we agreed to meet and I bought the bus

ticket.

The craziest part about this whole ordeal? The bus ticket I had purchased was a one-way

ticket, I had told no one of my plans, and had snuck out of my parents’ house with one suitcase

and a backpack all on Christmas Eve. I had called in sick to work that very day, loaded my Jeep

with my luggage, and headed to Oklahoma City for the Greyhound Bus Station. Mind you, I still

owed my mother almost a grand for the Jeep she helped me buy and so when I arrived to the

station, I put the key under the driver seat and parked it across the street in a parking garage and

did not tell my parents what I had done until I was already on the bus. I spent Christmas on the

Greyhound, to arrive the day after in Port Charlotte, Florida the following day where I would

finally meet Jeremy. Life as I had known it was about to change forever and although I did not

know it at the time, it was changing for the better.

After I had arrived and gotten into the car with Jeremy, bound for his home in Punta

Gorda, FL., my phone began to blow up with calls and texts. It was apparent that word had

reached my friends and other family members of my extreme spontaneity. For the next several

weeks, Jeremy and I got along amazing. Jeremy had a way of keeping my mind off losing any of

my so called friends and somehow everything had seemed right with the world. I am honestly

unsure as to where down the line that we had begun to argue and fight, but after 2 months of

making things work, our relationship had begun its final downward spiral. Home life had

become so tense, that I would purposely go on walks to the store or around the town so that I did

not have to go home to the tense atmosphere. Little did I know, that while I was out on one of
my afternoon walks, Jeremy had packed up all of my possessions, and had bought me a bus

ticket home that was scheduled to depart that same evening.

After a heated argument and many tears, I was back on the bus home to Enid, Oklahoma.

My parents by this time had forgiven me for the tyranny that I had put them and everyone else

through during this whole experience and had offered my old room back under certain

conditions. This was more than I could have asked for and I graciously accepted. The day I

arrived back home, I was given two weeks to recollect myself and find a job and before I knew it

I had begun working for OnCue Express by the country club in Enid. The weeks that followed

had my parents in utter disbelief and confusion as they had seen the transformation that this

whole experience had made for me and so they had a hard time believing that it would stick.

About a month later, I had save up enough money to get my own car without my parents help, I

had a stable job, and I no longer associated with the crowd of friends that I once had.

In Conclusion, I strongly believe that Jeremy had been put in my path for a reason, and that

reason was to help me grow and get me on my own, proper path. The whole experience has

taught me many lessons and I do not regret it in the slightest. It taught me to stick up for myself

and not allow myself to be used and manipulated, that true friends will love me for who I am and

not what I could do for them. It also opened my eyes and helped me recognize red flags when

they are presented to me, to know when someone is toxic. Some lessons are better learned the

hard way and that in order to learn and grow from them, one has to keep an open mind. I did,

and I will be eternally grateful for the experience that turned my entire life around and became

the solid foundation of who I am as a person.