So, I'm a struggling writer.
I've been convinced lately that I'm not good enough, or I don't have the time, or there are others better than me; pretty much that I have no chance of doing the one thing I'm most passionate about.
Until Jorge Xaca, one of my first ever roommates and best friends told me otherwise.
The friendship was born on my first day of college. I was super nervous and only knew one or two people coming to school with me, and I had to meet my suite-mates later that afternoon. Not only were these the people that I would be going through my education with, but these were also the people that were starting their same adventure into adulthood and freedom that I was. Needless to say, I was going to get to know them pretty well.
Jorge was the one who stuck with me. We were walking across campus close to one o'clock in the morning the first night we were there, talking about how scared we were to go into what we were about to do. Here I was, knowing him for no more than an afternoon, spilling my guts to him. Maybe it was my new environment, maybe it's how scared I was, but I think our connection was instant.
Jorge is one of the few people that will literally go out of their way at every given opportunity to help you. He wants nothing more than to see the people he loves succeed, and that's exactly what he wanted for me.
I began writing for Clemson's Odyssey program a few months ago because he knew I was attempting to write and needed an outlet. He saw a flyer for the program, took a picture of it, and sent it to me. He told me to do it, and I did. He was happier then than I've ever seen him since. I knew at that moment that he only wanted to see me become what I wanted to be.
The article I'm writing now originally wasn't going to happen. Instead, I was going to send in my Odyssey resignation and take the summer to write on my own (which I honestly probably wouldn't have done) and not have any dates or deadlines.
But once again, Jorge moved to motivate me.
He does it in the most thoughtful of ways. He is always the one to go the extra mile with anything, whether it be offering you a ride, buying you dinner, or just hanging out. He's always there, ready to help in whatever way he can. He really outdid himself this time with our parting gift.
Since we're both finished up with school now, he told me he was working on my gift. He said that he'd written seventeen-thousand words and forty-six pages in fifteen minutes. I did the math, and that was about an average of eight words per second, which was obviously an impossibility. I called him out on it, and he told me to trust him.
The next day, he came to me with a thick orange binder, filled to the gills with paper. Meanwhile, I was thinking about being behind on my marketing classes since I'm switching majors (essentially giving up on my dream) when I opened it. Inside, he had printed out every single one of my Odyssey articles, short stories, and reviews; totaling the seventeen-thousand words and forty-six pages.
He called it proof that I could do it. He called it the beginning of my career. He said that it was just the start of all the awesome work I was going to do. Thinking of this, I wondered how genius he really is. The thought, the love that had to go into thinking of a gift like this was unbelievable. I thought I was going to cry.
So Jorge is the reason I'm writing this article tonight. I was on the verge of giving up, but now I'm rethinking. I don't plan on stopping anytime soon and he may just be the reason. He saved the dreams I had long given up on. He revitalized me; gave me inspiration, showed me he cared and that he believed in me. This is what it means to be a friend.
Jorge is beyond a friend; he is family. He never ceases to amaze me with his ability to go the distance and be there no matter the circumstance. He's willing and able to be the person that people can count on, and I am so grateful for that. Above all else, he's a motivation to me. I hope to be as caring, loving, and kind to others as he is. His passion and his love for others are attributes I wish I had and hope to gain over spending more time with him.
And Jorge, if you read this, I love you buddy. You saved my dreams that were on the brink of being gone. You showed me that some people really can just keep getting better. I hope that people see this and use you as an example of how to be a friend. Don't stop being you. You're the best.
I plan to keep submitting every week through the summer. I now plan on finishing my short-stories I've been working on these last couple of months and posting them part by part here. I didn't think I could do it, but Jorge did. That's what counts.
