Mary Oliver's Poem 'The Journey'

Old connections will “...tug at your ankles” (Oliver 1) in an attempt to guilt you into staying back, but you shouldn’t feel an obligation to do so. In Mary Oliver's poem, “The Journey”, she speaks of that moment of self realization and taking the first step into a life worth living. The old connections I previously spoke of will make attempts to stop you from pursuing this life, but perseverance and determination will get you far and help you to start living your life.
Correspondingly, when I was accepted into the University of California, Santa Cruz, I almost did not commit to the school even though it had been a school I fairly wanted to attend. This is because I sensed something holding me back. Although I could not physically see what had a hold on me, I could definitely sense a form of guilt weighing me down and hiding within me. Thus, the decision to commit to UCSC, which should have taken me a matter of seconds,
Accordingly, he was extremely excited for me, however, I told him that I wasn’t planning on attending. This was the day he lectured me for an hour about moving forward, it was also the day I “...finally knew what [I] had to do, and began…” (Oliver 1), the day I pursued step one of my initiation into UCSC. Due to Ories positive persuasion, I was able to realize that the only thing holding me back was myself, I had created my own obstacles, my own road “...full of fallen branches and stones…” (Oliver 2). Not to mention, the obstacles I had thought were blocking me, my parents and friends, were never the ones hindering me. As a beneficial repercussion of my talk with Orie, I went home and knew what I needed to do. I sat with my parents for a solid two or three hours and talked about my newfound determination to attend UCSC, then, I began the process of committing to the school. Overall, my plans for college changed that