Sam Stevenson is a freshman at OSU and currently pursuing a major in Biomedical Engineering. She is from Massillon, Ohio (about eight miles west of Canton). She is also my best friend’s (Christina’s) roommate. Before I met Sam, Christina appraised how friendly, talkative, adventurous, passionate, and all-around enjoyable she was. Sam was just that kind of a personality, someone who treated you like you’ve known them since childhood. When I was assigned this project, the first thing that came to my mind was that I wanted something new. I wished to interview someone I lacked experience with. Sam was the first person to pop in my mind, I thought this would serve as a quality opportunity to learn something new about her. Asking someone about their story is such a broad question and covers many potential topics. I told her to tell me the first thing that came into her mind. She just laughed and said,
“Wow, that’s negative” with a half-smile.
“What?” I replied with a mirrored grin.
She proceeded to explain her first experiences with adulthood: relationships. Her first real relationship began during her sophomore year with a boy her age. She was happy, and gave herself to her boyfriend. She trusted him, and relied on him to provide safety and security; but one night he betrayed her and the relationship took an abusive turn. An unsuspecting teen became trapped in an instance of non-consensual acts. She ended the relationship in the summer preceding her junior year. Shortly after, she fell for a boy named Jeff. He was her best friend, and someone who had displayed an assurance of trust. They dated for a year, attending two dances together and growing more intimate. She describes their relationship as an “intense friendship.” Naively enthralled by her newfound sense of security, Sam was blindsided by Jeff when he confided a secret to her. Jeff declared that he was gay. Sam felt familiar senses of despair, and frustration. Again, she trusted someone and that trust was betrayed. She was not upset because he was gay, she was upset because the relationship created a false sense of security she thought she had finally managed to regain, and then it was shattered in an instant. Sam and Jeff were still friends and went to their last two dances as high schoolers together. However, during this time they grew apart and lost the connection they used to have. Additionally, Sam began to drift away from her friends in her grade and transitioned to associating more with the underclassmen. In particular, a girl in one of her classes introduced her to a boy named Matt. Despite his young age, Matt portrayed mature qualities. The two began dating and Matt reassured Sam of the securities a relationship can offer, but he also taught her about herself. Matt’s provision of a sincere, trusting relationship allowed Sam to reflect. She never needed the trust a relationship presents, rather she needed to trust in herself and in the people who already loved and supported her. The only person who is always going to be there is to support one is oneself, thus it is imperative that to realize the importance of being one’s own person and not succumbing to the will of others or blindly entrusting one’s whole self to another. Sam and Matt mutually ended their relationship on good terms when Sam when to college. Now, she is trying to focus on herself and self-improvement. She is more hesitant with guys, and will not devote herself to a relationship without trust. It is an absolute necessity in order to fully, and genuinely give oneself to another.