Fugitive Firefly

Running away with the last bit of hope

The double standard

Would you go up to an overweight person and say "you're as big as a house! Seriously, get off the couch every now and then."? No. Didn't think so. Yet you probably wouldn't think twice of saying a negative comment to a petite person. With anorexia at its peak, anyone unusually thin are diagnosed by society as having an eating disorder. To those who don't have the disease, who are naturally thin, still suffer frequent criticisms. It's unfair for them to endure comments like "go eat a sandwich" and "you look like a broomstick." I'm not saying that victims of eating disorders deserve to hear the above statements, I'm saying that these utterances shouldn't be made at all. It's not right to be sensitive about weight when the number exceeds healthy and then push all manners aside when the number is smaller than average. Regardless of size, everyone has emotions that should be taken into consideration.

One small statement made in passing, could have a huge, lasting affect on the individual.

Tá sé seans iontach- It's a great opportunity!

The day that it happened has been stenciled to my mind.

It was cold. It was rainy. And I was on my way to calc. My mood wasn't exactly chipper. I had a death grip on my umbrella to assure that it wouldn't fly away in the strong wind when I felt my phone vibrate. This is weird for two reasons: the phone is always in my bag and, even if it's in my pocket, I don't feel it vibrate when I'm walking. Taking the phone out of it's nice little compartment, an unfamiliar number is displayed on the screen. Normally I don't answer if I don't recognize the area code, but this time I did.

"Hello, Amber?" I could barely hear the voice over the passing buses, the wind, and the rain that was pelting my umbrella.
"Yes..?" I answered, perplexed on how this stranger knew my name.
"Hi, this Samantha Smith from API."

The call was from Academic Programs International, or API for short. I knew this would be about my potential trip but I wouldn't be able to hear any sort of news she that was about to give me. I explained this to her and requested that she call back in 15 minutes- just enough time for me to get inside a nice, warm, QUIET, building.

Waiting for that call back was torture, but 22 minutes later...it came! "Hi again," Samantha said. "Can you hear me now?" I laugh at the Verizon quote and give her the go-ahead. "Well I just wanted to let you know that we have reviewed your application and we think you would make an excellent canidate for our program. Are you still interested?"

Was that a serious a question? "Yes," I tell her. Trying to contain every urge to squeal like a little kid on Christmas morning. "Excellent. I will send your materials to the University for final review but I don't think you will have anything to worry about." She continued to tell me all the things they will be sending me and what I needed to complete by when. I, however, must have sounded like a broken record for the only word in my vocabulary for those two minutes was "OK."

I walk back into Calc, a grin from ear to ear, and take my usual seat behind one of my friends. She turns around. "What happened?" she asked. Ok, now I can squeal.

I'm going to Ireland!!

Needless to say that I couldn't focus in Calc that night :)