2008 Woodie Awards
Southern in the City
Courtney Roy
Issue date: 2/9/05 Section: Features
- Page 1 of 1
Growing up in southern Louisiana, my childhood was quite different than those of most here at Manhattan College. Rather than spending my summers on the Jersey Shore or Fire Island, I spent my days wandering the narrow streets of New Orleans, exploring the nooks and crannies of the French Quarter. From an early age, my parents had a plan for me; I would go to the right schools, make plenty of friends, then after graduation, pack up and head off for college at Louisiana State University, just an hour away from my home, along with all of my other friends.
Needless to say, when my plan to move to New York City for college was proposed, most thought that it was just a silly phase, and laughed it off, giving me a typical response of, "Oh sugah, that city is just too big! What are you gonna do in a place like that?" Obviously, this only fueled my desire to go against the grain, and eventually my parents accepted the fact that they were not going to make a good little LSU girl out of me just yet, so they begrudgingly went along with my idea.
When graduation finally rolled around, and I looked at my classmates, I came to the realization that nearly all of them would also be going to the same college, and most likely stay within the same group of friends that was established back in the first grade. The thought of that frightened me. I have always thought of college as a time to explore and branch out some, and so many of my classmates would not be able to do that.
The summer before leaving for college was one of the strangest periods of my life. In so many ways, I had to learn to be on my own a bit more, because it would not be long before I would be 1,000 miles away from home, and everything that I had grown to be so familiar with. Despite encouragement from friends and family in the form of things like, "Well, honey, if you really hate it, you can always come back," I knew in my heart that there was no turning back.
Arriving here in the Bronx for orientation and the beginning of school was quite possibly one of the most terrifying moments that I have ever been through. It only took moments, but as I stepped off of the plane, I knew that my life was changing forever. Despite all of the uncertainty, and well, a bit of culture shock, I learned more about the world in the first few weeks of school than I had learned in the past 18 years of my life. Even though so many called me crazy for going so far away, there was really no other option.
Sometimes the best thing that we can do is risk making a mistake. Regardless of what everyone else is saying, there is no other way to live life than to take a grand leap, and see where fate will take you. If you fail, than you will have learned something new about yourself in the process, but if you succeed, you could find happiness beyond your greatest expectations.
Needless to say, when my plan to move to New York City for college was proposed, most thought that it was just a silly phase, and laughed it off, giving me a typical response of, "Oh sugah, that city is just too big! What are you gonna do in a place like that?" Obviously, this only fueled my desire to go against the grain, and eventually my parents accepted the fact that they were not going to make a good little LSU girl out of me just yet, so they begrudgingly went along with my idea.
When graduation finally rolled around, and I looked at my classmates, I came to the realization that nearly all of them would also be going to the same college, and most likely stay within the same group of friends that was established back in the first grade. The thought of that frightened me. I have always thought of college as a time to explore and branch out some, and so many of my classmates would not be able to do that.
The summer before leaving for college was one of the strangest periods of my life. In so many ways, I had to learn to be on my own a bit more, because it would not be long before I would be 1,000 miles away from home, and everything that I had grown to be so familiar with. Despite encouragement from friends and family in the form of things like, "Well, honey, if you really hate it, you can always come back," I knew in my heart that there was no turning back.
Arriving here in the Bronx for orientation and the beginning of school was quite possibly one of the most terrifying moments that I have ever been through. It only took moments, but as I stepped off of the plane, I knew that my life was changing forever. Despite all of the uncertainty, and well, a bit of culture shock, I learned more about the world in the first few weeks of school than I had learned in the past 18 years of my life. Even though so many called me crazy for going so far away, there was really no other option.
Sometimes the best thing that we can do is risk making a mistake. Regardless of what everyone else is saying, there is no other way to live life than to take a grand leap, and see where fate will take you. If you fail, than you will have learned something new about yourself in the process, but if you succeed, you could find happiness beyond your greatest expectations.