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Im sure we all can relate to starting the week with a heavy heart and fearing for what is to come. A few weeks ago today was the beginning of a tough week. I had lost a friend, got bad news, and was feeling pretty down. While on my way to class, I was musing about the test that was about to be handed back, hoping my luck the previous few days didnt adhere itself to my pen strokes. I heard a greeting coming from my right side, and when I looked up from my shuffling autumn feet, I saw a smiling face of a boy that I have never met before.
Hello, he said, how is your day? Genuine interest was plastered across his face as he picked up his pace to meet my steps. I told him that so far, the day was going alright, and he nodded.
Thats what I like to hear.
In my head, all I could ask was Who ARE you? Was he always so cheery about talking to strangers? This boy seemed so interested in my well-being, and stared into my eyes instead of elsewhere (a rarity when dealing with friendly college boys.) I told him my name, and he told me that he knew, since we were in class together since August. I marveled that he knew me by name because our class is pretty big and I sit smack in the middle. My seating choice is a conscious device, a plea for anonymity due to my highly embarrassing wealth of knowledge about Shakespeare. At a school like mine, being a 59 brunette with glasses, jeans, a sweater and a scarf usually guarantees that you can blend sufficiently well in a group of English majors. With this boy, it was simply not the case. He knew me and could tell that I was having a rough morning. Curious.
As we walked together in silence for a moment, I came to a strange realization. See, I believe that somebody somewhere is watching over uslaughing at our mistakes and nudging us in the right direction. I also believe that whoever that is will sometimes send a little help when we need it, be it in the form of positive reinforcement from an unlikely source, or finding a $20 in your pocket or a guardian angel.
I got a perfect score on my Shakespeare test and the boy gave me a high five.
I couldnt stop thinking about this strange encounter for the rest of the week. In class when I couldnt develop my answer enough, he interjected and finished my thought, telling me that he had my back. Weve had a few other encounters lately where he has popped up just at the right time, and each time it happens, I debate the reality of the situation. This boy may be just a random nice guy who happens to share my affinity for British literature, or an admirer, or a stalker (a possibility which I have yet to totally rule out,) or an angel in disguise.
I found out yesterday, through a mutual friend, that I have a class next semester with my guardian angel. That fact leads me to my most important realization, and the point that I look forward to sharing with my audience. Business majors will make a lot of cash, nurses will help heal the world and engineers will innovate to further society many-fold. However, English majors, my dear audience, are angels.
Ellen Ring is a Yorktown native finishing her senior year at Villanova University where she is pursuing degrees in English, Chinese and Writing and Rhetoric. She is looking forward to attending law school next fall and providing her readers with her great college tales in the meantime.
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