Dreams Lost, but Self-Worth Gained

On September 2nd, 2011, I packed up my life into my Black 2008 Rogue Nissan and took off at 6:30am for my sophomore year of college. This sounds simple enough, but when your college is in Saratoga Springs, NY things can get a little difficult. And, as luck would have it, difficulty had no qualms of making an appearance on this day.

Four hours into my road trip, my car breaks down just north of Las Vegas, NV at 10:41am. I call AAA and let them know my situation. To start off, they could not locate me. I thought I gave them reasonable directions. "I'm stuck on the I-15 heading North. I just passed the 93 exit and am about to come up to another highway or freeway exit." Not the best directions but there aren't many landmarks when you are in the middle of a desert in NEVADA. About an hour and a half later they find me sitting on the side of the road, writing in my journal.

I successfully get to an Auto Repair shop where I explained my situation. "I was heading back to college in Saratoga Springs, NY. Yes I know that's far. I have my life packed into my car and need to get to college as soon as possible." Susan, the incredibly wonderful woman at the front desk, helped me as much as possible with figuring out a way to get to college. She suggested car rental to college or back home, or, if the car isn't in too bad of repair, stay the night in Vegas and start on the trip the next day or two. She gave me contact information for hotels, for rental cars, for tow services, everything. She was great! Susan of Auto Brake and Clutch just off of W. Lake Mead. If you ever need help with your car in Vegas, go to her.

After a two hour wait, they finally gave me the bad news. My cars transmission was beyond repair. It needed a new one. They called the Nissan Dealership to check if I had a warranty on it, and, as it turned out, I did. WOOHOO! But, seeing as the Labor Day Weekend was coming up, the earliest my car would be done is by next week at the earliest.

At this point my dream of driving across country was shot. I arrived at the Nissan Dealership and was helped my a man named Paul. He could not have been nicer. It was comforting to find out that there are still good people in the world who are willing to go out of their way to help you out. Once I realized I was stranded in Las Vegas, I decided to call my sister Natasha. When I told her that I was still in Vegas, she knew she had to help. And she did. Natasha and I talked it out and decided that the best action to do was to get me back home with all of my things and go from there. After Natasha and I talked things out and got a game plan going it was then that I decided to call my mom. Yes. I called her last. I was afraid she would have a heart attack if she knew her baby was stranded. I wanted to prevent that. I called her to let her know that I had everything sorted out, that I was keeping all the receipts and that Natasha is on her way to get me and my things. We hung up the phone.
My mother calls me back within fifteen minutes. She's sobbing and the only thing that I can really pick make out from her voice is "I'm so proud of you". It was at this moment that I realized how mature I have gotten. I was able to handle a difficult situation to the best of my ability and only when I needed to did I enlist my family. I am glad I have such a great family to lean on, but I do want to make their lives as stress-free as possible. It's hard though since I'm the "baby" of the family.

Oh well.