By Angelica Recierdo, inside columnist

When I was standing on that football field in front of the entire town, I couldn’t help but dig my heels into the turf and smile shyly. It was like I was thrust onto some scripted movie or game show set. Thousands of eyes were peering at me intently, as I blindly took the key out of the bag and approached the car. I remember mentally preparing myself to encounter an unfitting lock, telling myself the odds were pretty amazing to win on the first try, or even at all since I was outnumbered by the three boys who were also chosen. But in the most suspense-filled instant, all of the doubt dropped like myself to the ground when the car door clicked open, all of it muted by the uproar in the stands. I told myself that the little things do matter. Little acts of goodness add up and there is a little luck in the seemingly structured lives we lead.

Sitting in the bleachers with the entire thousand-plus student population every time I heard of the contest, which made the concept of winning a car so distant and unfathomable. Our peppy principal was teeming with excitement; at the joint-school carnival, a 2010 silver Hyundai Accent would be given away to a Middletown student whose name was drawn from a lottery. They deemed it a “motor-vator” to encourage students to go above and beyond in the hopes of earning tickets and owning a brand new car. In truth, I was not any more motivated to excel than I already was. To me, all of the provisions of winning tickets were things that were expected of students. Teachers bestowed them upon me and I modestly tucked them away in my folder, always smiling and thinking “what if?” but never letting the thought grow into anything more than a fanciful wonder.

I believe that karma and fate exist. We do not realize how greatly our lives are shaped by chance. When I retell the story to new listeners, every detail seems to stun them as if I am penning my own suspense story and narrating a catchy plot. I don’t know if it was pure coincidence. The ticket was the one I had earned that same day of the carnival. I had received my driver’s license two days prior. Numerous names were called before mine but they were not eligible since they were not present. If the principal had not ushered me to choose a key with a “ladies first,” a boy would have won that car.

To this day I think of all the “what ifs” that created that Friday afternoon in June and how it could have been another person’s story. I’m blessed for the help the car has brought to a family of three teenagers with a mother who does not drive. Most people do not realize what they have until they lose it; I like to think I had not realized that truth until gaining what I have and thus appreciating all else. Now when I’m faced with grand circumstances, I remember feeling as tiny as I did in front of that crowd and overcoming that trepidation with the help of a hopeful little car key.

Photo Courtesy James086 Creative Commons