"Experience is not what happens to a man, it is what a man does with what happens to him."
- Aldous Huxley, 1894-1963
One may go through life living with his feet standing firm on the ground, but his eyes just as firmly shut. But then the question arises: How does that person learn, interpret, and experience what he has lived through? Is it possible that this blindness can keep him from experience? I have found that this kind of knowledge comes only from taking what you have learned in life and making something of it. I have been in many situations that have taught me to be self-reliant. Aldous Huxley's quote on experience demonstrates the importance of being able to learn from your life's challenges. In my personal life, I have managed to live independently, overcome family members having cancer, and work through a broken friendship.
Independence is something that I have worked hard to achieve.
Since I was little I have always wanted to work toward being my own person, and not having to rely on anyone else for anything. This served a good purpose when in the summer of 2002 my mother lost her job and moved away to Indiana. At the time I was 17 years old, but I was not willing to sacrifice my schooling and hard work in California for a move. So, as luck would have it, I was able to find my own way. Finding a path to take was not easy at all, nor will I ever feign that my hardships came easy. I approached the matter of staying in Orange County as well as I could, weighing the pros and the cons. After all, I did not want to make a mistake over such a significant decision. I...