I had intended to begin writing for this page a long time ago, but I hadn't had a prime opportunity until now: the last night in the dorms for 2002-03. As I sit and survey the bags and boxes all around me and the empty drawers and shelves I can't help but feel a little peaceful and insightful. It's been a great year for me at school. I've been learning so much and having awesome experiences. I feel like I worked hard and accomplished a lot in nine months, and I'm very ready to go back home for another summer.
One of the best memories I have from this year is all of the great people I got to meet. People like Sheri, Sarah, Jake, Melanie, Christine, Charlie, and Becky among others. Around this time last semester I was called down to Becky's room after some misunderstandings between the girls had gotten her down. She's the kind of person that likes to maintain harmony between everyone and be close to as many people as possible. She was so upset because she wanted to be closer to the girls, but the communication breakdown was showing her that it most likely wasn't going to happen at that time. While Sarah and I consoled her for a few hours, I thought of an analogy to sum up the situation that I'm quite proud of, and that was very profound and insightful. Here's a retelling of that story as best I can recreate it:
Personal relationships in this world are a lot like jigsaw puzzles.
For each piece in the puzzle there are only a limited number of other pieces that directly connect with it. Sometimes those pieces don't come together right away, and other times they are stuck together from the start. Those pieces connect to other pieces and come together to form larger sections. Those new pieces might not directly connect to that first piece, but they are still close and just as important. Through those pieces the puzzle expands on to the ends and some pieces are so far away from that first piece that the connection between them is very small or even non-existent. No matter how hard that first piece tries it cant fit everywhere in the puzzle because it is unique and fits in its own space, and it can't be everywhere at the same time. The piece belongs where it fits in the puzzle. It completes the puzzle and makes the big picture clear.
That's like how people are. We start finding other people out in the world, and a lot of times there's no direct connection. Eventually we find those people that we click with and the people that they click with. We might not have the same connection with everyone else, but they can be close while not being a perfect fit. There's billions of people out there and there is no way that we can connect to all of them, but we can fit in our place with those people we do connect with. We can't be everywhere at once, and we can't be what we're not. But in the end, when you stand back and look at the big picture, everyone is just as important in making that picture work and it's not complete without everyone being there.
So to everyone out there looking for your pieces to fit with, remember that every puzzle is made to be complete and there are pieces out there that will be a perfect fit at some point. Don't try to fit in everywhere at once, just be the unique piece of the puzzle that you are.
-Jeremy
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