MIDDLE OF NOWHERE

Jona Mae Camacho

One of the things they don’t tell you before entering college, is
that somewhere in the middle-- just when you thought things are
falling into place, one snap of a certain moment would just make you
question everything. About you and mostly, about the life you are
choosing for yourself.
So let this be the piece that tells you that reality.
Being in college is an overwhelming experience. It overwhelms
people in different ways. Some in a good sense, and for others, it’s a
nerve-wracking dilemma. The trickiest part is some gets to choose but
not decide, while some gets the fortune to do both.
I for one, was given the chance to choose and decide. For quite
some time, that privilege became my saving grace to get through the
perils of my first years in college.
Every time I felt like giving up on writing the fifth page of my
ten-pages long critique paper, I’ll just have to bear in mind that I
have the freedom of being able to be in the place I chose. When tasks
exceed the capabilities I have, I would just try to push myself a
little harder and do it for the other students who even struggles
more, for they are not where they wanted to be. Those thoughts were my
lifeline in the first years. It made me happy and contented.
Until I reached the middle of this journey. Yet, I saw myself
standing in the middle of nowhere. The road starts to get a little
rockier and the path are all just covered up. I didn’t know how or
what brought me there. It felt like getting tricked in a maze with no
exits at all. This is that reality.
So how do you get past a dead end?
Keep in mind that all mazes are simply just a trick. A concept of
confusion. While you are stuck inside it, imagine that there’s this
arena waiting outside. In the bleachers, people who genuinely believe
in you are there, rooting for you. Let those voices get past through
the walls to guide you.
The moment you hear them clearly, it is time to realize that
inside this maze, there is no one else but yourself. Now, do it for
you. Not because you’re giving up your dreams for others, but because
you have to believe in yourself first to be able to pass it on to
others.
 You see, college is a series of mazes. A stage that will make you
realize that mistakes and choices have a connection we can’t
understand—and maybe we never will. Yet, it makes us brave enough to
accept that mistakes are painful, but they’re the only way to find out
who we really are. Eventually, it makes us better versions of
ourselves.
This reality of getting stuck in the middle of nowhere makes you
rethink and regret so many things. But it opens your eyes and makes
you smarter for the other mazes ahead.