The Struggle

I was struggling to lift my awkward shaped trunk off the luggage carousel. Impatient people surrounded me waiting to get their own luggage, so they could begin their long-awaited vacation or finally arrive home after a long journey. Many unfamiliar languages were heard in my ear. The song “A Whole New World” could have been my theme song of the moment.

No one volunteered to offer me aid with the lifting of this awkward trunk. The blue trunk was almost my height and weighed at least half of my weight. It held all my belongings I was going to need for the next four months.

One of the luggage carousel's at the Orlando Airport

I needed to get that trunk from point a which was the luggage carousel to point b which was the Mears Transportation counter all by myself. It was almost impossible to carry because of its shape and the fact I also had my carry-ons in my hands. Questions of why I didn’t bring a trunk with wheels or why didn’t I have this shipped after I got to my destination flashed through my brain. Too late now because I was now in the predicament and needed to get out of it.

It was September 5, 1995. I was moving to the Orlando area for four months. No one volunteered to travel with me to make sure I got to Vista Way, my new home safely. It was up to me and only me to move that trunk all by myself.

I tried to carry it – NOPE. I could take a few steps at a time which means almost 25 years later I would be still moving that darn thing. I ended up doing a combination of pushing it and carrying it which was probably hilarious to see in the middle of the airport. Finally, I reached my destination. Now it was time to begin my real journey – my Disney College Program.

That probably 10-minute moment in the airport cemented the fact that I was on my own and that I could face anything that was placed in front of me during those next few months. At that point in my life, I had never lived away from home. For my first experience, I moved almost 1,000 miles away.

I can’t recall how I got the trunk from the drop off point at the apartment complex to my new apartment or how it got home at the end of my program. Those moments were insignificant because they did not symbolize my freedom and my realization of, I’m stronger than I think I am. It was also a time where I realized I couldn’t rely on my family to help me.

The Corridor I had to walk with my trunk - Taken almost 20 years later