back home - carleton university

 i came back to the place that used to break me.

these halls used to hold everything i hated about myself:

the insecurity,

the jealousy,

the fear of being seen.


i used to walk with my head down —

resenting people who were confident,

resenting people who belonged,

resenting people who weren’t drowning like me.


i wasn’t actually angry at the world.

i was angry at the version of me

who didn’t know who he was.


but today…


i walked the same halls with a different spine.


chest open.

presence rooted.

eyes steady.


i didn’t want anyone’s approval.

i didn’t need to be seen.


i am.


i used to be afraid to look people in the eyes.

now i meet their gaze like i know something they don’t:

i outgrew the world that used to intimidate me.


i used to crave belonging.

now i carry belonging inside me.


school didn’t fail me.

i outgrew the lesson.


i was never meant to fit into the system.

i was meant to build my own.


carleton was not the beginning of my career.

it was the beginning of my becoming.


i walked back into the place that created my doubt —

as the man who outgrew it.


gratitude.

closure.

ascension.


i didn’t come back to prove anything.


i came back to witness my evolution.


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