Omg I get to talk about myself
A Biography
What is life? How did I get here? I think about two weeks ago and I don’t think of my bleary eyes looking over chemistry or walking through campus in 80º weather.
Instead, I feel like I was 7 years old running around in my best friends backyard, getting splinters from climbing up the trees, pretending to be pirates and feeling like that 1/2 acre yard with the white painted fence was the entire world. When you’re little, the world is at your fingertips, and your mom is your superhero, and there are no expectations for life only expectations that you can hopefully stay up till 9 to watch a Disney movie.
But now I’m 18 and life is full of desires and ambitions. It’s 11 years later and I still feel like the world is at my fingertips, but now I know it is much bigger. I wish I could go to bed before 9 and my mom is still and always will be my superhero. Weeks go by like hours in the day and I’m literally almost finished with my first year in college. And I’m not even a quarter through my life yet.
My name is Ariel Caudle and life is hard. If I had to sum up my life in a sentence it would be this: You have to absolutely fall apart and crumble to discover that there is more to life than this, and then you have to figure out how to exist in that reality and rebuild. And in this project, I focus on accepting the past and how we move forward, so my life should not be any different.
I accredit four things in my life that have made me the person I am today.
First things first, my parents. While we do fight and we drive each other crazy, they gave me the room I needed to grow for myself and figure out life. They have supported me through everything and let me be my own person, not someone they wanted me to be. When I said I wanted to be an astronomer when I was 8 years old, they bought me a telescope. When I said I wanted to play guitar, they got me a guitar for my birthday and all the little books so that I could learn. When I said I wanted to go to Los Angeles and become a makeup artist for movies, they printed out all my designs on high-quality paper and helped me put together my portfolio. I’m tearing up writing about this actually, but just know that they are insanely supportive of me and constantly inspire me to be a great, and I am overwhelmed with gratefulness.
Secondly, my four best friends. We lived right across the street from each other since we were two years old. Do you know how rare it is to be able to say that you are still best friends with the people you wore diapers with? There’s something about knowing you will always have a group of people to support you through the ups and downs and any risky decision you make that really just makes life worth living.
Thirdly, theatre. Theatre was an amazing time period in my life where I learned what it was to work with a huge group of people and make something amazing. I created the makeup for 9 of our award-winning performances. It tested my limits creatively and taught me to be honest with myself and accept my weaknesses. And for a long time, I thought that was what I wanted to pursue. But I realized that it should just stay a passion, not a career. And it took me two years to figure it out, but shoot, when I did, it was like the world opened up.
Fourthly, the University of freaking Georgia. Now I’m going to be completely honest, I did not want to come to this school. I was ready to hunker down and just study for the rest of my life at another university that shall not be named, but God had other plans. I ended up here. And ever since, my life has been filled with immense blessings and every single morning I wake up grateful because the most amazing and supportive people are here. People that I do not deserve to have in my life because they are so wonderful and yet here they are. I have never experienced so much growth in a short 10 months.
And so, with a lifetime of juggling what I want to do and what I should be doing with my life, I am majoring in biochemistry on a pre-med track hoping to someday give back to the world that has given me so much.
I truly hope you enjoy my story on my families Great American Meltdown, and how we built ourselves back up from that.
