Greatest Day Of Your Life

"Every day has the potential to be the greatest day of your life."-- Lin-Manuel Miranda

Two years ago, almost exactly, I came to Kent State for my Grad Assistant Interview Days (GA Days) and got my first real introduction to the higher education program at Kent State. We spent the first day learning about the program, meeting with our advisors, touring campus, and getting to know the other candidates. The next day, I interviewed with 10 different offices hoping that one of them would want me to work for them for the next two years.

When I sat down at the table across from two people who worked for Kent State's Department of Residence Services, they asked me something I didn't expect. Instead of the typical "tell me about yourself" question I had been getting as my first question...they instead asked me "what is your favorite quotation and why?"

This threw me for a loop. But I was able to quickly come up with a response. "Every day has the potential to be the greatest day of your life." I explained that we never know what could happen and that within every day there is the potential for something awesome and life changing to happen even if we don't realize it.

I didn't realize it at the time, but that day was about to me one of mine.

I will argue that people can have more than one "greatest day" of their lives. Would you really want to try to rank days such as the day your first child is born vs. the day you married your spouse? I would say that those are pretty equal in terms of awesome...and are therefore two separate "greatest days."

But I will also argue that perhaps your "greatest day" isn't the day you think it is.

I could say that the "greatest day" of my life will be the day I walk across the stage and receive my Master's degree. But in all honesty, that day is the product of much work, tears, laughter, and a little bit of luck.

I would instead argue that the greatest day was the day I interviewed for my position. In that day I sealed my fate and set my life on a course that would forever change it and shape me into the person I am today. I didn't know it at the time, but that day was going to change my life forever.

The other "greatest day" that stands out to me in my head as a day that has truly changed my life forever happened also has a story attached to it. The summer after 5th grade was the first summer I was allowed to ride my bike around the neighborhood on my own with no supervision. I took advantage of this and rode down the hill in my neighborhood down to the very end of my street. When I got there I saw that one of the girls I rode the bus with was outside so I stopped to say hi....which then turned into me hanging out at her house for the entire afternoon. We played in the creek...accidentally dumped ink in the creek and spent an hour trying to "save the minnows!" After that we started hanging out at each other's houses as much as possible for the remainder of the summer.

Today, she is my fellow Jedi (because we're awesome nerds like that) and best friend.

There are events in our lives that change us and shape us into the people we are meant to become. Sometimes these events are drastic and climatic and you know right at the moment they're happening that your life will be changed forever. Some, like the ones I wrote about, you won't realize until years later when you can look back and see exactly how much one interaction, one choice meeting, one action, can truly change your life. Whether good or bad, our lives are changed.

Will I have other greatest days to come? Yes. And I am excited to meet them when they do.