Trusting the Unexpected
Over the past few years, especially as a rising senior who is going to college soon I have realized that life has a way of taking me in directions I've never expected. There are times when something I wanted does not work out, and I solely question why. It is easy to wonder why I had to experience these situations at all because what purpose did the situation possibly have? However sometimes the meaning behind an experience is not something recognizable right away. The saying "everything happens for a reason" reminds me that just because something does not happen the way I had hoped does not mean it happened for nothing. I recently was able to understand that what feels like a loss in the moment could eventually become something that would help positively shape my future.
As I have grown older I have realized that life rarely happens according to the plan. In my experience, I can spend much time imagining how something is supposed to turn out, that when it does not I automatically assume I did something wrong. Sometimes though the unexpected path can end up being the one actually needed. A disappointment might push toward an opportunity, a mistake might teach something important or a difficult experience might help strengthen us. This does not mean that every painful situation is easy to accept or that we should pretend bad things do not hurt. Some experiences take time to understand and some may never have an obvious explanation. What matters is that one should not allow one moment to convince them that our future will always be difficult.
Ultimately believing that everything happens for a reason gives me a sense of hope when life feels uncertain. For example, the well-known stressful season of college applications. Everything has felt impossible and there were many times I thought I wasn’t getting into any college at all. However, going by this saying reminds me that I do not have to have my entire future figured out. Sometimes the best thing we can do is accept what is happening and live your life. In the end, I know I am going to end up in a place that is fit for me, no matter if it is my dream school or not. Life will never go exactly as planned. That does not mean it is going in the wrong direction. Sometimes the unexpected moments are the ones that teach us the most, and introduce us to possibilities we never previously thought of. We may not always know the reason right away but trusting that there is one can make it easier to keep moving forward.
-Teema Kaakaji, Vice President