by David Hoffman
If NBA Hall of Famer Reggie Miller had decided to live on campus for his senior year of college, every detail of my life today would be different.
If NBA Hall of Famer Reggie Miller had decided to live on campus for his senior year of college, every detail of my life today would be different.
I kid you not.
Miller had a spot reserved in one of UCLA’s residential suites that year, but he got an off-campus apartment just before school started. If he hadn’t, his departure would not have freed up a spot in that suite for me. (When I arrived with my belongings after the first week of school, my suite-mates were disappointed to discover they would not be living with a basketball star after all).
If I had not moved into that suite, I would not have become friends with my roommate Lloyd. And he would not have managed my campaign for Student Body President the following spring, almost single-handedly swinging the election my way. And if I had not won the election, I would not have felt inspired and empowered to apply to Harvard’s graduate program in Public Policy that fall.
If I had not entered the Public Policy program, I would not have met my friend Richard. So I would not have joined him six years later at a small Boston-based nonprofit running community organizing projects in cities around the United States. And I would not have been in Pittsburgh on organization business one December to meet the woman I would eventually marry. And we would never have moved to Maryland together. And I would not now be working at UMBC.
I suppose you could conclude that life is a crapshoot, full of circumstances beyond our control. But I prefer to see it a little differently: that in the push and tug of events, there are openings through which you can pass to new worlds. And in those worlds you can discover and fulfill the promise of your self; and find the path with your real name on it.
Maybe there’s just such an opening for you, in the circumstances of your life, right at this moment.
Do you have a similar story of your own—of a circumstance beyond your control that made all the difference?
Co-Create UMBC is a blog for and about UMBC, written by David Hoffman and Craig Berger from the Office of Student Life. Join the Co-Create UMBC group on MyUMBC. Like Co-Create UMBC on Facebook. And follow David and Craig on Twitter.
