True North

When I first came to Riddle, we played a game called two truths and a lie. You know it; every person who has sat through orientation or a professors get to know you lecture has played it. So my choices were: “I can’t read a compass, I hate vegetables, and I know one person in this room.”
People guessed mostly the first two. And they were wrong. I didn’t know anyone in that room-or any other for that matter. This was a new place for me, and I was terrified.
Why was building 36 so far from 32? Where was “king”? I didn’t know anything. My mom promised it would get easier, but I was sure I was doomed to wander, lost, forever. Eventually, my mom was right-I found my way. And then, two years in, I thought I finally discovered the end of the world-I was transferring to, of all places, Daytona Beach. The campus that made fun of our little town, that couldn’t pronounce Preskit correctly. Who was Hunt, and why was his library so much better than our Hazy library? I didn’t know. And then my transfer was held up for a semester and I thought I’d never get here. But I did, and again, I was lost. What was COAS? Why did some people call it COA? Wait, they’re NOT the same thing? Each college has its own BUILDING? Wait, chic-fil-a is INCLUDED? (That blew my mind). My mom reminded me I had found my way around before, and I would do so again. Again, I swore this alphabet soup would never make sense. But I joined the AAC, TNG, and RPTC, declared my CSO major and got familiar with the AAS department. Yeah, I know some parents just got whiplash with that alphabet soup. But slowly, it all started to make sense for me. Then one day, the road I took every day to school was closed. I called campus safety in a panic-this was an emergency, in my mind-and begged directions. As I travelled, I noticed this new route pointed me north-only because my car tells me what direction I’m going. And it occurred to me, Riddle HAD become my true north. If I could find that, I could get anywhere. Today, I still can’t read a compass, I still hate vegetables, but I know someone in almost every room I walk into. Embry Riddle has become someplace that doesn’t just let me explore academics, but lets me explore new social environments, lets me explore my talents, and yes, lets me be an adult avoiding the adult world for just a bit longer. Today, I have friends from all walks of life, all majors, all colleges. Today, I am here to say, Embry Riddle will always be my true north.