Issa Metaphor (by Emma Eekhoff)
In order for me to get to Seattle or my hometown of Sequim, I drive across the Hood Canal Bridge that connects the Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas. This floating bridge is something I’ve found to be a great metaphor for how I see home and college as completely separate bodies. As you drive on the bridge, to your right and left, one side of the bridge there are calm smooth ripples of water, and the other side of the bridge, the water is churning at a vigorous rate.
I’ve seen college and my hometown to be completely separate bodies; I have different friends, a different faith base, different responsibilities, and simply a different mindset.
I see the unsettled side of the bridge to be the part of me that is Seattle and my university life. Life is moving at a rapid pace, which can be exciting and overwhelming at times. I love this life so much; it pushes me to become and see more of myself. And as much as I love this part of my life, it is unsettled and this causes me great anxiety surrounding my future and other details that are far to decide upon but close in feeling.
On the other side of the bridge, I see the smooth predictable body of water as my hometown. My hometown is still apart of my life, but oddly enough it doesn’t match with anything of who I am becoming, so when I do go home, I feel like I’m in high school again with the same hateful classmates and community members. It’s predictable deja vu. But I’m always intrinsically motivated to go home because Sequim is easy; everything about life is slower and less immediate problems exist there.
Being at school, then going to Sequim on breaks always sends me into an odd funk for the first and last 24 hours of my stay. To be in these two places is enjoyable, but disfiguring because these places exist in completely separate ways in my life. And in my life right now I’m working on having one identity, not feeling like I need to be in exit in old places of my life because they are no longer truly apart of who I am now.
But I’ll keep crossing the bridge because it’s the place where my two worlds are the closest to intersecting.
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Emma Eekhoff is a 20-year-old Seattle college student. She's not afraid to share her stance on something, whether it is an art form like music or recent events in the world. She's been writing in a journalist setting for only a few years, through Fresh Jess, The Growl Online, or for a music blog. She loves to connect and network with new people in the worlds of business and music, travel to new places, and eat new interesting foods.
Connect with Emma on social media: Instagram / Twitter / eekhoffemma@gmail.com