Shipping A Piece of Home

When I arrived at Arizona State University from Portland, Oregon, there were a couple of shocking adjustments I had to make- not including getting used to the weather. Although I consider myself an individualistic and hardworking person, I have always had my family by my side, this time I was truly going solo. I brought with me my favorite quilt I had gotten from goodwill, my salt lamp, a picture of New York I bought on the side of Central Park and pictures of me and my best friends. Even though I was going to be thousands of miles away from my old familiar streets I did my best to bring them with me to remind me home can be where the heart is.

As I started my double major in Musical Theater, and Geology I noticed how, unsurprisingly, far away my diverging classes were from each other. The School of Music's tall wedding cake structure stood on the edge of the east side of campus while the modern Geology building hugged the west edge of campus, making my walks to class a mile apart. In order to adjust to my new timed marathons, I began to perfect the ultimate power walk, but even with my lengthened stride I still managed to arrive to class late.

Once my first semester ended, I returned to Oregon and was greeted by a wonderful surprise from my Aunt and Uncle, their neighbor was giving me a bike for free! I was overwhelmed with all the possibilities a bike held: adventures off campus, romantic bike rides in the park, but most importantly one less thing to worry about during the school day. I then began to think of how I would get it to Arizona, riding it didn't seem like the best option. That's when my Uncle suggested we take the bike apart piece by piece and ship it, there were even companies committed to completing such a task! A week later I found myself taking apart my bike screw by screw as my brother and Uncle watched with amusement. After I turned the wrench the wrong way about seven times and managed to get oil everywhere my sky-blue bike was ready to be packed for shipment.

My uncle showed me the sturdy box the company had given us, and I held my breath as we tested to see if the bike would truly fit, but sure enough, they had crafted a box perfect for a disassembled bike! My uncle carefully wrapped different sections of the bike in foam and used zip ties to hold the protective padding in place. Two weeks after I returned to Arizona, I unpacked a beautiful bike unharmed by the journey it took during shipment. I was so grateful that not only was I able to ship my bike but that it allowed me to have a piece of home to take with me every day.