Day 8

 Relay Writing Challenge (ask for details in comments).

 I decided to use Facebook comments and what my friends texted me. Here’s what I got. I tried to incorporate each into the story as best as I could, it was fun but still a challenge. 

“the truth is so much more than the words we use to describe it.”

“sincerity commitment”

“We waste a lifetime on things we can’t even take to the next.

“don’t take for granted the people you have beside you just because new people arrive in your life”

“The dog left walking and found his best friend crying”

Photo by: Darren Phillips

“You have to realize that when you’re out there into the world. When you graduate! When your professionals! Things will not be what you expected them to be. People think it’s easy to make it in this world; well… it’s not. Your beliefs and principles will be tested, many will try to deceive you, friends will become enemies, and enemies will become allies. It’s all a process and we can’t stop it, it’s just the ways things are. Just as someone has to rule and others have to follow. Many times it will seem like everything is about power, about control,  but it’s just a process of life. Someone has to lead, because if not there would be no order. Now one thing is to lead and a very different thing is to dictate. Many times the truth, the truth will be so much more than the words we use to describe it. Things always get changed, altered from person to person. Three people can witness the same thing, and their stories are completely different. Why do you believe that is?” the professor pauses.

A girl with blond hair raises her hand “Because they weren’t paying attention to what was happening,” she answers. “Good, what else?” he inquires. A basketball jock raises his hand, “They all observed the event in a different way” he points out. “Good, anything else?” he says with a smile. A girl with red and black hair and many tattoos raises her hand, “ because the human brain can play tricks on us. It is susceptible to exterior suggestions and if a considerable amount of time passed since the event, they could each remember things differently than the way that they, themselves could have remembered in the beginning” she argues. “Now who can tell me why that happens? he asks. A boy raises his hand timidly, “because we’re flawed,” he says and then processed to look down. “Yes, yes, that’s it!” the professor exclaims.

“ We are far from perfect, we make mistakes and out there, in your field; mistakes will be made, sometimes these mistakes will be able to be explained and other times they won’t. But if you make a mistake, be honest, don’t be afraid to show sincerity, accept your limits. But don’t just accept them, just as you show sincerity, show commitment, commitment to fix your mistakes, to become a better you, to become a better professional. The world needs not good, but great professionals and it all starts here. In this classroom!” he continues to speak as he starts to walk around the classroom. “We waste time on things we can’t take to the next phase when we should be focusing on the things we can change, that we can achieve. It’s important to dream, our society is big on that, you can achieve anything they tell you, that’s also probably true. But it will be hard; you will have obstacles, not everything comes easily, and not everything comes fast. Sometimes you have to be realistic you have to align your profession with your talents but not limit yourself to try something new. You can’t be afraid of what you don’t know. There’s always room to learn more, but don’t give up on having fun either. Maturing doesn’t mean you can’t have fun, it doesn’t mean you can’t act like a child at times. It means that you know when you can have fun, when you can act like a child and when you have to tackle your responsibilities. Don’t take for granted the people besides you, no one can do it all alone, you will need help to achieve many goals and there is nothing wrong with needing help. Need is not weakness, it is just need.

A young man raises his hand “ Isn’t it important to be independent?” he asks. “Of course it is. But needing help isn’t the same as being dependent you aren’t relying on others to do things for you, your asking for help on what you are already trying to do, because you realize that not everything can be done alone. You are acknowledging that you don’t know it all. Or do you expect a doctor to build a house? Or a mechanic to fly a plane?” the professor answers. “ No” the boy replies. “ Therefore, need is not weakness. It’s something we will all face at some point or another; now I leave you with this. There once was a dog that left walking and found his best friend crying. The dog asked his friend what was wrong, to which his friend told him he had lost the trail to his master’s home because he was sick and his smell did not function properly. So the dog picked up the scent of the way to his best friends home and led him there. One day the dog no longer had a home and his friend offered him to stay with him and his master at their home…This might sound funny to you, a bit unbelievable since you’re all in college; but tell me. Weren’t they both just in a situation of need? And didn’t solving his friend’s need just help him in the long run? Nothing in this life happens by coincidence, everything is like the domino effect, one day you could be doing something for someone and the next day they could be doing it for you. So just remember today is the day to start using all the tools you have and develop the ones that need to be mastered; so you can start building that foundation of the professional you want to be tomorrow. Class dismissed” he says concluding his discussion.

-M.A. Fernández

Copyright © 2016 Marlin Alicea Fernández, Soul to Ink. All Rights Reserved