My
father is a high school teacher for small school district that is no longer a
part of any one town or city. The small town (if it could even be called a
town) was more of a rural community that is not uncommon to Oklahoma, but it
was broken up when a lake was created to provide water to the nearby college
town, the town I called home throughout middle school and high school. My
father would make the commute every morning out to the rural school sitting
just off the highway, and he often thought about moving into the school
district; however, that would mean making me change schools, something my
parents were adamantly against. It wasn’t too long after I graduated high
school though when my parents saw a chance to move to my father’s school
district; one of his coworkers needed to move to town due to too many allergens
in the area, and she and her husband were going to sell the house and land for
a fairly low price.
Shortly
before my high school graduation my parents made a deal with me stipulating
that so long as I remained in school I could live with them and not pay rent,
but I would still need to help with some other bills. So when my parents
decided to move, I moved with them. Moving wasn’t something new to me; we had
lived in a couple different apartments while I was in middle school before we
rented a house, so I had some experience with it. The big difference this time
was that I was going to actively involved in the transport of our furniture and
other belongings now that I could drive. Another big factor was that I also had
a truck I had inherited from my recently passed great-grandfather.
During
previous moves my father would rent a U-Haul truck to move everything since the
only vehicles we owned were two small sedans. This time we had my small truck
and my mother’s minivan. Granted we would still need to make multiple trips but
we finally had vehicles to that could fit any piece of our furniture.
Unfortunately, the truck I inherited hadn’t seen any use for nearly two years
before I got it and was just an accident waiting to happen. During one of my
trips back to the old house to load up I started hearing a loud screeching
noise from my engine compartment. So I called up my father and told him what I
was hearing and that I couldn’t pinpoint its exact source. He suggested I wait
there, but I thought I could make back to him since I was only a few miles
away. So I kept going and when I was barely a mile from the old house I heard a
*kur-clunk” right after the screeching noise stopped and I watched as something
fell out from my engine compartment and rolled to the other side of the street.
I came to find out that it was part of my alternator and that the pulley on it
had sheared off the rod due to something inside the alternator breaking and
stopping any movement. Luckily it was a common enough part that the local
AutoZone had it in stock and my father was able to help me replace it, putting
me back on the road in less than two hours.
Since
that time I took a break from college and got my Associate’s degree after
working for some time and gaining some much needed maturity. So when I do move
out I will make sure I am using a trustworthy vehicle to haul everything. As
for any advice to my fellow students: definitely make sure you trust whatever
source you are using to move. Something even more important for students
thinking about moving out: make sure your finances are in order and that you
will not be adding any stress from managing tight budgets before you move out,
and take advantage of any help you can get. Parents may get on your nerves and
you may not have the freedom that you would have living away from them, but if
they offer the same deal mine offered me, I say take it, your future self will
thank you.
