The Nebulous Beauty of Transportation

There’s point A and there’s point B.

Point A, we could say is the start. Point B is the finish to whatever task we’re looking at [start of homework to end of homework, life to death, after school to home, etc.]. Some of the most significant memories for me would the moments in between, the process, the struggles, and the time.

Reflecting on the years I’ve been at BB&N, I think some of my strongest memories are those spent on the bus home after sports. This past Thursday, my friend and I were talking about our experience on the bus in sixth grade, the laughter, the jokes, the talk about crushes, the talk show we pretended to create and what we like to call the “fake wedding” that we recorded. It makes me smile to think about how much the people who’ve ridden the bus with me have grown these past two years…it truly shocks me. The bus has been a place where I stress out, then am comforted by the innocent, yet genuinely caring fourth graders. It has been a place where we just laugh, at jokes, at humorous stories from classes, at memories and I find myself seldom leaving the bus without a smile.

The conversation about bus memories started when my friend and I were telling the fourth graders and sixth graders [whom we’ve known since they were in fourth and second grade, respectively] that we wouldn’t be on the bus next year as high schoolers. That made me pause and think about how I’ve watched each of them grow, and probably, how they’ve witnessed my friend and I grow. We’re all different people, yet we’ve retained many of our old characteristics. Our revolution. Yet the people on the bus have grown off each other. There’s a tangible connection of trust between each of us and that’s inspiring to me.

So in reality, I suppose it’s not just point A and point B that count…the moments in between matter just as much. These moments have shaped me in ways that point A and B wouldn’t have offered. I’ve built friendships, I’ve learned how to interact with younger kids better, I’ve laughed, it’s my de-stressing space. I believe that’s the nebulous beauty of transportation.