I believe in second chances. I believe your life can be cut short at any given moment, all it takes is a tree and a little bit of ice. When I was in high school, I always excelled in my writing classes. I always enjoyed writing, and for my high school graduation, I was asked to give the closing speech. After the ceremony, one of my classmate’s father’s approached me. “You really have a gift, Rachel, with writing and public speaking. Not many people your age could get up in front of all those people and speak like that.”
I thanked him, thinking that I could possibly do something like this for my career, but I knew that I probably wouldn’t. I eventually declared my major as Human Development and Family Studies, because some of my family members had swayed me away from Journalism. They told me that there were “no opportunities in that field now, and it was difficult to be successful”.
But on December 29th, 2012, I got my second chance. I was at a party at my friend Kyle’s house, his parents were out of town. Kyle and I walked outside to get some air. We were just catching up, talking about school and what it was like living in State College. I told him I wasn’t sure I was doing the right thing, that I didn’t know if I was in the right major, if I should change it, or just except it and complete my degree in my current major .
He turned to me, and I will never forget his words, “Rachel, you and I, we’re the writers. You gotta change it, you just gotta do it. You’re an amazing writer, and everyone should be given the chance to know it.”
Kyle passed away that night. My beautiful friend, whom I had known since second grade, crashed his car into a tree and was killed instantly. When we found out about his accident, all of our friends arrived at the intersection where he hit the tree. I could feel the thousand pound lump in my throat, my heart shattering into a million little pieces, just like his windshield.
The next half of my Christmas break was filled with heartbreak, tears, and emptiness. At the funeral, I held his hand and whispered to him, “I will always love you, and you were always my favorite.” Over the past few weeks, all of my memories of him have flashed in my mind over and over again, but the one I could not forget was what he said to me the night of the party.
I was dreading going back to State College, leaving my friends who knew and loved Kyle, and being alone. As soon as I drove into State College, I went to the Carnegie building, met with an adviser, and changed my major to Print Journalism. When I walked out of the building, the sun started shining so brightly, and I know it was Kyle looking down at me.
Losing Kyle has been one of the most tragic and horrible things that I have ever had to go through, and probably ever will. Nothing will ever be able to bring him back, but through this I feel as though I have been given a second chance, to be who I want to be and embrace my gift of writing. Those words he said to me will always be in the back of my head. Kyle believed in me, and through his death I’ve been given a second chance to believe in myself.