Finding my purpose through unexpected place

by Courtney Ortega, staff writer 

 

When life leads you in unlikely directions

I used to think that the best way one could go through life was to always have a plan.

Plans are security, and they keep us on track. I used to think this was true, that is, until my life led me here.

As I have written before, this time last year I had been accepted to Texas Christian University, and my mind was far from South Plains College. I admit that I, like others, had given SPC a pretty bad rap. So when my parents decided it would be more cost efficient for me to start off there, I nearly died, literally. Or at least at the time I felt like it.

Then I came here, and life went on. And I realized that my parents were right. SPC was the best decision I could have ever made. It has helped me to mature not just intellectually, but mentally. It has set me on the track to become the woman I know I’ve always been meant to become. Along the way, I have met some of those amazing people who have impacted my life in more ways than any of them could have ever known. 

To my roommate and good friend Courtney, I doubt on our first meeting we realized the bond that we would share. It amazes me how two people can be so different, yet have so many things in common too. I have never doubted your commitment and excellence to your craft, and you are one of the few on the staff of the Plainsman Press that I can say I truly respect and look up to.

Brenda, Britni, Box, Brant, and Beka, other than the fact that I just realized each one of your name starts with a B, you have each been such a wonderful friend to me. I think about how having not come here would have meant not meeting each one of you, and I am glad about the way things have turned out.

For those who do not know, the staff of the Plainsman Press is made up of a bunch of crazies. Yes, I said crazy, as in we all are just one big mesh of different beliefs, cultures, values, morals, etc... We push each other’s buttons, and it is those emotions that push us to make the best newspaper we can.

It is no wonder that a large part of my thanks goes to one man who, somehow, I’m still not sure how, can have a handle on all that crazy. Charlie is the reason why people become teachers, to hope to have the impact on the lives of their students like he has. Charlie is the reason why people come into the field of journalism to pursue their dreams. This man lives his dream, and you know, as one of his students, that your successes are his successes as well. Charlie is the parent with the advice you never wanted, but you know you always needed. And I thank him for that.      

In retrospect, this past year has been the best unexpected obstacle of my life. I have grown so much from the person I was just one year ago. I believe God doesn’t give you anything he knows you cannot handle, and it inevitably taught me that all things really do happen for a reason. Sure, my life has not taken the route that I expected it to. Instead, it took a detour that led me to a place I’m glad that I did not have to miss out on.

My only regret, if any, is that I wish I had known then what I know now, so that I could have had the chance to soak up even more of the college than I got to this past year. This is an amazing institution, and the faculty is one of the best. I have been honored to have had some of the best professors this past year, without whom this could have been the worst year instead of the best year of my life. To the campus built on dreams preceding realities, you have done so in helping my dream of becoming a journalist come true.

So as this school year closes, I leave you with this last little bit. I love to write, and nothing gives me greater pleasure than to give a voice to the stories of other people, a voice for those who have no voice or outlet to let it be heard.

I have found my purpose in feature writing, and I am so thankful to have done so at such a young age. And that is why I can offer my sincerest gratitude to the faculty and staff of South Plains, for helping me to nurture that purpose. To those I leave behind, I only hope that you may one day find, if you have not already, your calling in life.