An Off-Beat Essay: What Do You Hope to Find over the Rainbow?

Jordan Molen

Jordan Molen

“Somewhere over the rainbow” a classic ballad written by Harold Arlen, for an even more timeless movie “The Wizard of Oz.” For Dorothy over the rainbow was an emerald city filled with color changing ponies, talking apples trees, and her beloved pooch to tag along. However, that isn’t what Dorothy really wanted, after battling wicked witches, flying monkeys, and her own fears she realized how valuable Kansas was. Could it be that were searching for what’s over our own rainbows when they might be right in front of us?

I have my own idea of what’s over my rainbow, I envision myself maybe up in the mountains of Colorado, or promenading the beaches of Puerto Rico and traveling to places I’ve only imagined in my wildest dreams. Drinking a cup of Seattle’s best while traveling around Washington, taste the best barbecue in Tennessee, or even bicycle across the Golden Gate Bridge. Over my rainbow is a life of leisure and adventure. I was brought up to be practical, I’ve been told to work diligently in school only to choose a job that’s realistic. Be a part of all the best High School Programs so hopefully a college might notice me. I’ve been told to get a job as soon as I turn sixteen, save money, and learn how to manage it. I’ve been told to not take to many risks, don’t back talk your elders, and don’t be a hero. What ever happened to “you can be whatever you want to be?” If this were true I’d be the next Molly Shannon of Saturday Night Live, living in my non-existent penthouse with my Leonardo DiCapresce boyfriend. Obviously, these are unrealistic goals. However, my goals to travel, establish a solid career, and begin a family of my own are not unrealistic goals. No matter how much I’d love to live anywhere other than small town, rural Indiana, over my rainbow is an Indiana University where I can be immersed in education that’s going to take me to the places I’m meant to be.

This is my point specifically, we as teens on the verge of adulthood and making life decisions that will affect us from this moment on is this. We spend so much of our time daydreaming about what we could be, and the things we could do but what it takes to get there are things that we can do here at home. I’m a believer that dreams come true, but there’s always a starting point, and I can’t think of any other place than my Indiana home. Here I can get the education that’s going to take me on a series of adventures—not only the adventures I imagine myself on, but also all of the milestones in my life I still have yet to discover some being graduating, getting married, and having children. These are the ultimate goals we all are working towards in the end, and there’s no better place to start the journey to those things than right here in Indiana. After all… “There’s no place like home.”