Moments

There are moments that define a person's whole life. Moments in which
everything they are and everything they may possibly become balance on a single
decision. Life and death, victory and failure, hope and despair teeter unsteadily on the
decision made at that single moment. These are moments ungoverned by coincidence,
untroubled by luck. These are the moments in which a person earns the right to live, or
not. These are the moments that can change everything and anything all at once.
Every individual, regardless of who they are or where they come from, will be
given a momenta moment unmistakably powerful enough to bring them to their knees
and define their entire being as a human person. These momentsboth public and
privateare the incidents that sketch and shape who we are.
I would like to believe that these moments make up the story of our lives.
Throughout my long and laborious seventeen years, I have seen many things. I
believe that many of these things, whether stories or statistics, have been lost in time.
On the other hand, there are many things that have stuck with me, remaining
exceptionally clear after years of inspiration and confusion.
I have seen the way my father remembers the years he spent at the University of
Georgia, reliving those life-changing moments that Athens gave him. I have seen the
way he lights up every Saturday when we sit down in front of the television, waiting to
see a new and improved Herschel Walkerto see another UGA player rush 5,259 yards
and 49 touchdowns between the hedges. I have seen the way he cherishes these
moments, as though they could slip through his fingertips and vanish at any second.
We have ordinary moments and ordinary moments and more ordinary moments,
and, then, suddenly, we have something monumental. We have the past and future
colliding in the present, our own personal Big Bang. It is then only then that we can see
that nothing will ever be the same.
That one moment can happen anywhere. Anywhere could be the Sanford
Stadium.
About fifty years ago, on July 24, 1963, a group of young men set off to
Washington D.C. from Hope, Arkansas to meet former President John F. Kennedy.
There in the Rose Garden at the White House, each of the boys shook JFKs hand.
Among these boys was Bill Clinton. In that moment, Bill Clinton promised that he would

someday have President Kennedys jobthat he would someday be the president of the
United States. Nearly thirty years later, in January of 1993, Bill Clinton was sworn into
office as the 42nd president of the United States of America.
This nationally acclaimed handshake between him and former President
Kennedy was Bill Clintons moment. This was the moment that inspired Clintons life of
public service in the United States. This was the moment that he continued to keep with
him throughout his life. Everything changed in that moment, suddenly and forever. July
24, 1963 was the day that a future president was born.
That one moment can happen anywhere. Anywhere could be the White House.
In Seoul, South Korea, you can constantly feel the K-Pop (Korean Pop Music) all
around you. Walking through the department stores and along the streets, you can see
the music stars faces plastered to the dozens of billboards lining the walls and corners
of the city. At any moment, a K-Pop artist could round the corner. Jon Toth, a twentynine year old man, admitted that [he] was definitely not the kind of guy you would
expect to be into a nine-girl Asian group. Toth traveled fifteen straight hours just to get
a glimpse of Girls Generation, a Chinese girl band.
We go to concerts for the music, but the best moments are often unrehearsed. For
some fans, a show is just a series of songsthe moments between, nothing but time to
be killed until the music begins again. We don't go to concerts to kill timeand, truly,
we don't go to hear songs. The reason we go to shows is to connect with a group that first
connected with us, the fans who believe in them.
He loves the electricity coursing through the air as all the K-Pop fans wait
anxiously for the doors of the Seongnam Art Center Opera House to open. Maybe it is
the anticipation of seeing the girls face-to-face. Maybe it is the sense of not knowing
what will happen the moment the girls step on the stage. It is only once the doors have
opened, the lights have been cut, and Girls Generation walks on stage that Toth realizes
the reality of the situation.
You think you love them, but then you see Tiffany [band member] point directly
at you and wink. Everything else that exists in the world disappears, Toth writes on
agirls fan site. This was his moment. This was the moment that changed everything.
That one moment can happen anywhere. Anywhere could be the Seongnam Art
Center Opera House.
On Thursday, April 4, 1968, a national calamity struck. Martin Luther King Jr., a
key figure in the African American Civil Rights Movement, was assassinated at the
Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Martin Luther King Jr.s death not only shook

the faith and morale of the public but that of Lewis John, a close friend and fellow
activist of MLKs. The crowd dropped to their knees as Bobby Kennedy mounted the
stage and announced Kings death. Kennedys moving speech was the finalizing factor of
the death of Lewiss brother, leader, friend, colleague, and inspiration. It is a moment
like this that leaves the heart weak and temporarily inconsolable.
That one moment can happen anywhere. Anywhere could be the Lorraine Motel.
Throughout my childhood, I spent endless hours pondering over what my calling
was, what I was supposed to do with my life, and what I was meant to be when I grew
up. I assumed that at any moment life would hand me a color coded manual directing
me towards the person I would come to be. While one part of me believes that my
moment has not happened yet, another part believes that I have already had my
moment.
On September 25, 2014, I sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic for three hours on the
interstate, desperately urging the cars to move along. As the Mercedes-Benz Superdome
came into view amidst the wide array of buildings, I could hardly contain my
excitement. Today was the day that I could experience something incredible. Today was
the day I could have my moment. Stepping through the front doors of the New Orleans
Superdome, I was completely overwhelmed yet exhilarated. Once the clock hit seven
oclock, the lights cut off and the music picked up; One Direction hit the stage. It was
extraordinary. Fortunately, I am not letting this concert define me. This concert is
simply ordinary. I know I am meant for extraordinary things.
That one moment can happen anywhere. Anywhere could be the Mercedes-Benz
Superdome.
Despite all of the people I have met and all the places I have been, I believe that I
have not had my moment yet. Fortunately, this is a relief. I would like to believe that my
one defining moment will be one full of life and fortune. I would like to believe that it
will be meaningful and fulfilling. Thankfully, my life is just about to begin.