All my life, people have been telling me I have an old soul. I used to shrug it off, but it seems that time is finally catching up with me. When you are young, you want to be older, but as you get older, you wish you could be young again.
On Sept. 12, I celebrated my 20th birthday. This day was filled with mixed emotions for me. This is the first milestone, where you go from being a teenager to an adult, in a young person’s life, and I must admit I got scared.
Not scared like I wanted to go run and hide; it was a fear of actually being old with a family dependent on me.
So I sat outside my apartment and began quoting lyrics. “Back in the days when I was young, I’m not a kid anymore. But some days I sit and wish I was a kid again.” Don’t act like this only happen to me.
When you are a kid, it’s okay to mess up; you just live and have fun. As an adult, you have duties and obligations and you are held accountable for all your actions.
I thought about all the people who had an impact in my life and made it possible for me to go to college and see 20. Then I thought about all my friends who are not doing anything, except just “chillin'” their lives away.
I can remember three years ago wondering were I would be by this time in my life. Never would I have imagined I would be here. Who would have thought a kid from Dallas could graduate from a high school in the worst area in the city and attend Florida A&M University? I didn’t.
Be thankful that you are in college.
Everyone on this campus knows someone who could have been great at something: the next Michael Jordan, Barack Obama or Michael Jackson. Wait, I got a little carried away. We don’t’ need any more Michael Jacksons.
For whatever reason, they didn’t make it to college. For that reason we have to be there spokesman, and allow their dreams to flow through us. Today, I vow to seize any opportunity I’m presented with that will benefit me and the people I encounter on a daily basis. I am going to make a positive impact in the community.
As I reflected on my present position in life, I lay to rest my immature ways, using my age as a crutch for being a kid. I accept my new role, a role that requires me to be accountable for my actions and responsible for the next generation of college students.
With age comes great responsibility and wisdom. All of us are role models and must remember that someone is always looking at us for guidance.
We are the ones that made it out and to college. Let’s not disappoint all the people who made sacrifices for us to be here. Accepting new responsibilities that come with being a college student is all a part of growing up. We need to take a stand and really think about our actions.
Royle King is a junior broadcast journalism student from Dallas. He can be reached at royle_04@hotmail.com.