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Xavier “Franz” Del Toro

Professor Adams

English 1301

18 September 2023

The push in the right direction: A journey to the sought after future

No matter the Color, Font, Size or Form they are administered, Everyone is born with a

ticket with their name and numbers on it that will take you anywhere anyone could ever desire.

Although everyone is born with this miraculous ticket, not everyone knows how to use it. So it is

up to the people who have already found how to use the ticket properly.

Then…I got it…the ticket – the brown and black slip that a man and woman handed to

me with the words, “This slip will take you anywhere.” Just as fast as they had given it to me,

they handed it to another child. They did it with such joy and pleasure. They would instruct her

on how to use it. However, I would be left to fend for myself trying to understand not only how

to use the ticket, but also where to have the ticket take me. All the assistance to the other child

would give her such certainty that she would immediately know where she wanted the ticket to

take her. However, I was nowhere near as certain as the other child, and for the better part of 15

years I would resent her for her certainty on which bus she wanted to get on whilst I tried

different bus stops hoping that it could be “My bus stop…the bus stop that would make me a

gazillionaire”
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However, some buses wouldn’t take the slip that was provided to me, and other buses

would just never make it to the bus stop that I was waiting at. It would take around 15 years of

waiting at different bus stops, however the “Sweet Science” stop was definitely my favorite stop

to fantasize over. Then I had found her, the girl who I resented ever so sitting under the bus stop

awning titled “Doctor MD/ PhD Center.” I would walk up to her with the idea of using some of

my knowledge from the “Sweet Science” stop to finally resolve some of my issues with this girl.

But then – I had a change of heart, almost like I was being held back by a force that was greater

than myself in every aspect imaginable.

Then it would click; almost as if a lightbulb had gone off in my head. It’s not this

person’s fault. I would feel bad and try to initiate some sort of conversation after all these years.

I would sit in the empty spot next to her and have a conversation with her about how I resented

her for being so sure and prepared for anything that had come her way, and just being an overall

“perfect person. ”Then she would proceed to ask why I was uncertain where I wanted to go, and

to be honest I didn’t have a great answer. All I could muster was “BECAUSE I ALWAYS HELD

MYSELF UP TO YOUR STANDARD OF CERTAINTY…” I would break, uncertain of where

this raw emotion was coming from. She would then start waving her hand in a “keep going!!”

motion. I would then continue, “...AND HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO BE AS SURE AS

YOU.” She would then go on to tell me that although the certainty in your destination is

important, the experience is the most important part. With those few words, my life had changed

– practically entirely. In the days coming I had taken a step back and really reflected my entire
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life and would come back slowly with this new view point and had immediately met a great

group of people who had genuinely cared about me and my well-being over just my academic

and athletic achievements, and I could not thank that girl enough for showing me that no matter

where I go I should always appreciate the experience, the people I meet, and the friends I made.

I waited by the “Doctors MD/PhD Center” stop again, hoping to see the girl, to thank her

for her words, but she’d never come back. Now I roam stops telling people who look just as

disoriented as a younger version of myself did that “Everything will work out…just enjoy the

little moments.” As everything slowly comes back in and together, I realized that the slip doesn't

only take you to places physically, but to places that move you mentally and emotionally in ways

that you have to sit back and appreciate in your own way.