It is ironic to me that the people I thought I was getting away from when I came to college were the very ones that would be crucial in helping me make it through, while learning something in the process – my family.
As my Dec. 19 graduation approaches, I find myself focusing on my past instead of my future, and on the people and circumstances that brought me this far. And I can say with certainty that I would not be here if it were not for my parents, Clay and Cheryl Gagnet.
I left home more than four years ago so sure of my own independence. I thought I could do everything myself.
I still feel that way.
What has changed? I realized I couldn’t be so sure of myself if it were not for the lessons my parents taught me.
They taught me to seize life’s opportunities, and to always push myself to do my best. And they have shown me how to put problems in perspective and to keep my chin up through it all – from relationship troubles to car wrecks, stressful exams and much more.
Mom and Dad taught me that the world has a lot to offer, but I have to get out there and find it myself. It is fitting that my parent’s honeymoon was a road trip – everywhere from Pennsylvania to Tennessee to Disney World. Their relationship started with adventure, and it never slowed down. Twenty-four years and four kids later, and things haven’t changed much.
For as long as I can remember, all my family needed was a tent and a few dollars to make an adventure happen. We’ve hiked in three different mountain ranges, camped in national parks, swam with alligators and fished for sharks. Until this year, Thanksgivings were spent eating fried turkey off paper plates while shivering on Lake Ouchita in Arkansas.
All that adventure makes good memories, but it also teaches a few lessons. My parents taught me, through all of life’s experiences, how to take care of myself, even if they were still willing to take care of me.
I think back to my first semester at LSU. I had been certain my destiny lay elsewhere in a college in a far, far away land. Circumstances, particularly money, kept me here.
So my parents helped move their not-yet 17-year-old daughter into a dorm and left her there without a car. I should have been terrified, and I guess they should have been too.
A year later, I told them I was going to Disney World.
For six months.
So my dad drove with his barely 18-year-old daughter to Orlando, where I would have to support myself on $6 an hour. I should have been terrified, and I guess my dad should have been too.
Flash forward to last week – I took out another student loan. I’m going to Peru. I’m not exactly sure when, or how, but I know I will be there for at least six weeks. So in a few months, my parents will watch me get on a plane to fly to another continent. I should be terrified, and I guess they should be too.
Instead I’m excited, as are my parents, about my life after graduation.
They taught me to take care of myself, but I know they’ll still worry. They taught me to make smart choices, but I know they’ll still voice their opinions about my decisions. They taught me to seek out new experiences, but I know they’ll be glad to have me home as often as possible.
I came to college to learn, and I did. My experience at LSU has equipped me to be a good journalist, and I am thankful for it.
But it is my experience with my family that has equipped me to be a good person, and for that I will be eternally grateful.