The Rose

A LETTER TO YOU, THE READER, SO THAT YOU CAN FINALLY FIGURE OUT WHAT I’M THINKING.

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THIS MONTH: The Lizard

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“Here in the Mojave desert, animals have had millions of years to adapt to the harsh environment. But the lizard… he is going to die.”

-quoted from Senor Flan, the Mariachi Owl Narrator in the animated film, “Rango”

Dear Reader,

In the newly released animated film, “Rango”, a nameless pet iguana (voiced by Johnny Depp) is accidentally falls off the back of his family’s van and is left to try and survive and to find his own identity under the merciless, waterless wasteland of the Mojave desert. Eventually, through trial and error, he becomes the hero “Rango”, when, as sheriff, he manages to save his newfound home from thirst.

Nevertheless, when he first arrives in the desert, his situation looks pretty bleak. Not only does he not know where he’s going or what lies ahead, but he’s also never survived on his own before, much less in the middle of a desert (not an iguana’s natural habitat). As he wanders on, the main narrator comments, “Here in the Mojave desert, animals have had millions of years to adapt to the harsh environment. But the lizard… he is going to die.” On cue, a hawk attacks. The lizard (Rango) escapes, only to encounter and kill the hawk later, after which the narrators again converse about his death. One (Lupe’) asks, “When is he going to die?” “Soon, compadre. Soon”, the other (Senor Flan) replies.

To me, the story of Rango mimics my own story this September. While I’m not running away from any literal hawks in the middle of a desert, nor am I a lizard, theoretically, I can identify with him. Just like he needs to learn how to adapt to his new environment, so do I at Oakland University. No one can really wholly prepare you for the shock of that first day. For me, I was just expected to handle it; but, when you’re commuting and the ENTIRE campus is full by 10 a.m., when the stream of people never ends, when you have to pay 20 cents just to get a GLASS of water, when it’s hot, sticky and muggy, when your backpack is heavy, when Chinese is your first course and your professor greats you with “Ni hao”, and when everything is just plain new, things can just seem really overwhelming. I felt like a fish out of water… like an iguana stranded in the middle of a desert. I was terrified.

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After my first day, it didn’t get much better from there. My terror melted into survival mode, and I began to wonder how I was going to manage everything. In the thick of it all, there was no time for me to breathe, to wholly center myself. This annoying little fact made me feel extremely pessimistic. On the surface, I put on a smile and just did it, something which was/is reflected in my grades. But, underneath it all, I was groaning under my load, wanting out of the rat race I put myself into. I also made dumb mistakes like parking on the grass and got slapped with a parking ticket my second week of school. Ultimately, I came to realize how much I actually wasn’t at O.C.C. anymore.

To be honest, by the end of this month, I haven’t wholly solved the problem of balancing my life, but I did come to realize that I wasn’t alone. My friend, Megan, is studying abroad in France this (and next) semester. When I confessed how I was truly feeling about starting school at O.U. to her, she put it this way, “Don’t worry; trust me. If you think people can tell you’re new, I pretty much have it stamped on my forehead!” 🙂

So, like Rango, am I going to die yet? Not yet, amigo. Not yet. Hopefully, if I stick this out, I can actually get adjusted. It just hasn’t wholly happened yet. 🙂

In the writing sphere, I wanted to nod to the 10th anniversary to 9/11, so “My 9/11 Story” is posted under “Other Work”, if you’re interested. Time Magazine put a really cool interactive feature up called “Portraits Redrawn”, which was my inspiration for this piece. I would appreciate comments on this one. I would like to know: where were you on 9/11? 10 years later? When you read the piece, just post a little blurb answering those two questions, and providing feedback, if you’d like to.

Ok! Have a great rest of your September! See you next month!

Sincerely, Your Lizard,

Jessica Anne McLean