Kyle Kage

A sense of possibility…

     Every so often I come across an article or story online that really gets to me and it has a lasting impact. When I got on the internet on to yahoo last night a article caught my eye which read: Yale grad’s final essay gets new life after writers death. Marina Keegan’s death at just 22 in car crash only days after her graduation is incredibly tragic, but what she left behind is incredibly inspirational. In that essay, she captures the essence of what I and many young adults feel: confused, not ready for the real world and not sure what to do or take on, and trying to come to terms with getting older and moving on. One particular part of the essay I loved, she writes, 

     ”What we have to remember is that we can still do anything. We can change our minds. We can start over. Get a post-bac or try writing for the first time. The notion that it’s too late to do anything is comical. It’s hilarious. We’re graduating college. We’re so young. We can’t, we MUST not lose this sense of possibility because in the end, it’s all we have.”

    She goes on tell a story about a winter night on her freshman year, ending up alone in another building away from her friends, but feeling humble and safe on a bench where many other past graduates had sat. It’s the same kind of nostalgic reminiscence I sometimes go through. I think what impacts me most about this story is that she was around my age…I would have graduated with her had I went to a traditional 4 year college right after high-school. She is part of my generation, and that alone, even though I knew nothing of her before I read this story, makes me feel a connection. And what she writes in her article, “The Opposite of Lonliness” is profound. I’m a musician and music is what I love to do, but I’ve tormented myself in figuring out what else to do as back up or if music doesn’t “work out.” From Accounting to Computers, I’ve come up with enough careers for a job fair, but none of that would make me happy. And I get reminded of this all time, but after reading Marina’s article, it feels like it’s finally sunk in. She spent her short life doing what she wanted to do, and created something that will have an impact for years to come. I think we all not only should, but owe ourselves to do the same. Music is what makes me thrive, and that’s what I want to do. Thank you, Marina, for this inspiration.