As a small child, my dad was an avid cyclist. He would spend his Saturdays riding for hours and hours on end, on a beauty of a machine. Once I had reached the age in which sports peaked my interest more and more, and I decided that a shiny new bike was what my heart desired most. As I consulted my parents in a meeting I had called about my inquiry I was met with one simple phrase "well you better start saving." I did just that. I mowed yards, I trimmed bushes, I washed cars, I saved my Christmas money, my birthday money, and even considering taking donations. The brand new Cannondale sat in the bike shop where I visited it on weekends for a quick trip around the lot, soon to take it home to my own home. Eventually, the day came in which that goal of mine finally came to reality as I rode my new bike in circles around the cul-de-sac. Now, as I work my jobs and I pay my tuition I am reminded but those same simple words "you better start saving." I am thankful that my parents, from such a young age, taught me to be a good steward of my money. Without such simple yet powerful financial advice, I would not be able to afford the college tuition that I am paying for now.

As a sophomore in college I stopped at a gas station on the rough side of town. As I stepped to the pump, head on a swivel, I had a deep uneasy feeling about me. Several men wandered through the intersection towards the station, and I trusted not a one of them. It occurred to me, as the gallon count spun across in front of me, that everyone I met I was suspicious of. In our culture, trust of others has virtually dissolved. We have been lied to by those in power, manipulated, and turned against our neighbors - now we stand at a point where we take ever statement with a grain of salt and every stranger is an enemy. I have seen in my own life as a healthy skepticism has morphed into a constant wariness of everyone who enters my bubble. The only way to heal from this suspicious, unhealthy, brash, and sometimes even violent attitude towards others is time. Time away from picking sides, time away from violence in the streets, time away from the fuel of liars, and time spent seeking truth. In a world bent on tearing itself apart and sowing mistrust, we must seek to find truth that will bring us back together. In the end with those men in the parking lot, they were not threat to me as I had so conjured up in my head, but rather plain normal gentlemen. If I took the time to get to know them, that shroud of mystery and fear would surely fade away, and we would be united by our commonalities and be one step closer to bridging that mistrust.