First Year poem

I was asked to share a poem

Maybe of community diversity and a memory

I’ll just share a little about me

Coming to APU was my dream

My parents thought it was far, my face would hardly be seen

My family is my everything but it was just time for me

The southern California sun and people who couldn’t stop smiling was calling

And so was

A community where my diversity seemed to actually follow me

Fell asleep with a silk wrap for my mane

Roommates asked why I wore it

And my ethnicity seemed to face me for the first time

Always the yellow skinned

Couldn’t tell if she was dark skinned

Or if she was the tan skin

Is her hair relaxed or straightened

See, coming to APU was my dream

Wednesday night Chapel became my source of peace

My bible contained highlighter streaks

Where God met me on the path he had placed me reassuring this is exactly where I was supposed to be

But Doubt sometimes caressed every positive thought that entered me

My moments of happiness were quickly shutdown by loneliness

And it broke me

 My weakness and insecurities opened the door for me

And I entered it slowly

But before it could immerse me

These words surrounded me

“He is jealous for me, love like a hurricane I am a tree bending beneath his love and mercy”

But at this point I wasn’t bending I was breaking

Lord the spirit is willing but the flesh was weak

And so he repaired me

Helping me remember this is exactly where he has called me

And so I placed my insecurities and fears behind

Trying my best not to let them jump in front of me

Yes, coming to APU was my dream nothing else could come between

But I was slightly Overwhelmed by this place called COLLEGE

Where responsibility was something you actually had a choice to hold on your own

Because parents were only there through the phone

Freedom was the theme and some let their freak flag ring

My RA became my source of maternity when my heart yearned for the one who birthed me

Girls on my hall became my little homes of nail polish and chick flick sanity

My alpha group became my family and everyone else in between kept my laughter going

I was asked to share a poem

Maybe of community diversity and a memory      

And so I chose a memory sprinkled with a little diversity and a lot about a community

A community where my heart can now rest assured that this is my source of security

So as you yourself embark on this journey weather it’s your first second third or your last embrace it

Embrace the people screaming at the top of their excitement because they are genuinely glad you are here

Embrace the 1am laughter and conversations that are better with an acoustic background

Embrace the random times of loneliness and ecstatic happiness

Embrace every memory difficult or easy to swallow because you will never experience what you are experiencing right now