A handful of days prior to writing this, I met a man by the name of Aaron who sat next to me on a connecting flight from Charlotte. He was dressed in a turquoise, multi-colored fleece Patagonia jacket, with tan chinos and a Peruvian-looking rug on his back. Yes, he was also wearing Tom’s.
I first got a glimpse of Aaron sitting at the gate with a feeble cup of Coffee Bean coffee. He was listening to a purple iPod nano, and looked as if he had endured a long day, even though it was only about 11:30 am.
It’s hard to say what my first opinion of Aaron was. I thought he looked a little bit awkward; out of place perhaps. Very western- to be brief; this guy was not from North Carolina. He was the type of fellow you would find working at a frozen yogurt shop or a Guitar Center in California.
They called our zone and we began to board the Atlanta-bound plane. I quickly found my seat and sat down, instantly popping in the new earphones I got for Christmas. Right before they were about to close the door for the plane, who gets on, but our friend with the turquoise Patagonia. He plops down in the center seat between me and a middle-aged woman after stowing his rug in the overhead compartment.
I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to talk to this man. I said hello, and without any anticipation, he shook my hand, and introduced himself as a 21 year old resident of Los Angeles and employee of smoothie chain, Juice It Up!
I asked where he went to school, and he responded that he hadn’t been to college. I can’t say I was surprised though, as condescending as I felt at that moment. However, his follow-up statement thoroughly surprised me; he was a missionary- a Christian. Just like me. That “rug,” which he had so delicately folded and put away was for prayer. In addition, he was the youth director at his church, and had recently completed a music album.
How could I have been so conceded!? What made me better than the man sitting next to me? Had I really just judged a man by the clothing that he wore? I felt truly foolish at that moment, and mentally begged to learn more about the character who shared the same armrest as I.
He explained that his grades were not the best in high school, and that he had made the decision to forgo a college education to serve in a program called Youth With A Mission, where he spent time in Colorado, Greece, Turkey, and Cambodia. I have to say that this truly inspired me, considering I knew I could relate to Aaron in more way than one. To add to that, he was taking a 24-week course to become an EMT. When he was complete, he would go on to help his friend with opening hospitals in Micronesia. I was awe-struck to say the least.
Sitting in the car on my way home, I realized that Aaron was changing the world. Without a college education, to say the least. It’s certainly helpful, but maybe it’s not something that has to be done immediately after twelfth grade. Imagine what could be done in the world, if everyone took a year off after high school to serve. This is no joke. We could legitimately change the way people live. We can make a difference.
Comments