Can't tie me down
The best part about being twenty is that you’re old enough to have had legitimate experiences where you can speak with others about who you REALLY are as a person. The worse part about being twenty is experience. But I have a message for experience….”You can’t tie me down.”
I THINK experience is similar to privilege, some are afforded the opportunity to partake in it and others are not. However, I think they differ in terms of who is awarded it or not. Anyone can have experience in the community that they wish. It’s simply an application, email, or plane ticket away. The determining factor is how hungry you are for it. Well for me, I’m starving.
I met the most wonderful people today, a lovely couple from New Jersey. And I learned from them that I’ve been showing my hunger for experience and opportunity my entire life and I didn’t even know it!
As many of my family and friends may know, I have always worn a tie. I’ve worn a tie to school, interviews, events, parties, and even on a date! So how does that relate to me starving for experience. Well, I now realize that THAT is my visual grumbling stomach. I want better for my kids as a future father. I want better for my fellow black brothers and sisters who are murdered consistently. And most importantly, I want better for myself. So in order to get it, I present myself in a way that is hungry for experience. I make my journey to finish line one step easier by putting on my tie each and every day. A good friend of mine said there is nothing scarier than an educated and well dressed BLACK man, and I agree.
As I delve into my journey of study abroad in Australia, I worry what will I make of myself not wearing a tie each day in 80 degree weather. Will I be judge by the color of my skin or my tight jean shorts? Will I even be noticed. I’m not sure, only time will tell. What I do know is that as I grow older and my ties grow longer, I will never be tied down, only tidied up!