Starting a Defining Experience

Every experience in our life shapes us in some way, whether in unfavorable or favorable ways.  Yet some stand out as defining experiences.

My years as a student at Percy Julian Middle School were truly a defining experience for me from my first day there, Tuesday, September 3, 2002.

I recently reflected on my middle school years in the past month, aware that my cousin Ava in Michigan was to start middle school at the end of August.  I wanted to encourage her at the start of her middle school years.  So I wrote her a letter, and drew from what made those years so important for me.

When I started 6th grade, I already had several years of schooling from my time at Irving Elementary School.  I had some good times and learned much.

As a student at Julian, my schooling took on a whole new dimension because it became about something much larger.  Oak Park District 97 was starting something totally new with 6th grade at the brand new middle schools.  I was part of history in the making as one of the first 6th graders at Julian.  I was laying a foundation and blazing a trail for the numerous students who would come after us, even those who hadn't yet been born and are now at Julian.  So going to school was about more than just me, because I was part of something much larger than myself.

Furthermore, I was at a time in my life when I became more aware of what was happening in the wider world around me, and I realized how what I was learning connected me with the world.  Beyond the classroom, I participated in other activities that engaged me purposefully.

So many people of Christian faith have realized their true purpose in life when they gave of themselves.  My time at Julian poised me to truly discover myself and my purpose in life by giving of myself for higher and nobler aims.  Indeed, one of the biggest impacts of Julian was helping me flourish in faith, which speaks so much to finding purpose through being a gift to others.

Truly, my Julian years were a great gift, giving me so much to draw upon in building my character, and over the course of nearly two decades, have inspired me to live as a gift to others, as a masterpiece pleasing to God.