At age ten I went to a space center with my school. They had a room with little LED lights that recreated the constellations. I was mesmerized that these seemingly insignificant specks of light could form such beautiful shapes.
Fourteen was when I learned how beautiful the darkness was. Life was bleak, and the future seemed dark and barren. I had no friends, was not confident, and harmful behaviors were the way I coped.
The day I turned 16 I went on my first official date with my boyfriend. It was an outdoor movie, and the stars shone so bright. I couldn't tell you what movie was playing, or the conversation I had with him, but I could sketch out exactly how the stars were shaped that night.
The summer after sophomore year I met a boy who lived in Texas. Both him and I were insomniacs, so we'd spend our nights talking on the phone until the sun rose. Laying outside in the middle of the street just staring at the stars and listening to all of the things the love of my life had to tell me was... therapeutic.
Junior year was rough. But every night I knew I could look up and see something beautiful. Something that reminded me what living was like. And even on the nights that clouds engulfed the sky, or it was far too cold to stay out admiring them, I knew that out there was something more.
The stars to me are far much more than just globs of hydrogen and helium on fire.
Stars represent things.
Ask yourself this: When you look at the stars, what does it make you think about?
Do you think about the time you went camping and you and your family finally bonded for the first time?
Or that the pure vastness of the universe makes you feel so small and insignificant.
Maybe, when you see the stars, you see opportunities. You see that for so long those stars have worked constantly to become bigger and brighter, and you look up to them. Hoping for the same determination that they have to become something.
We are more than just highschoolers trying to graduate.
We are so much more than the scores on skyward.
OR the trophies and medals, or the lack thereof, that splatter our bedrooms.
We have potential.
We are stars waiting to be born.
Realize that whoever looks at the stars will see something different, not everybody is focused on your acne as much as you are, They don't notice that. They notice your drive, your smile, the remember that one time you made a joke in class that made their day go from bad to better. You are not defined by the things society says you are.
