Far From Tivoli
Lauren Galvan ’16
every day ahead of me. My job became a lead weight, and
I found myself crying at least once a week because I just
wanted it to be over. I felt like teaching wasn’t right for me, that
I wasn’t doing a good job, that I didn’t belong—and not just in
the teaching profession, but also in Roswell. In New Mexico,
I saw my future unfolding, twenty years down the road, still
in exactly the same place in life, only older. By staying, I was
prohibiting myself from reaching my potential, even though I
didn’t know what my potential was. I took career quizzes and
applied for jobs on the east coast, any job I qualified for, but
especially those within higher education. Working in Rhode
Island, at Brown University specifically, was my pipe dream.
I don’t know why this was. I don’t know why I connected
with Brown, why I marked my own words that I’d be
back there someday, or why I felt like Providence was
the Goldilocks of cities. But I know that I am here today
because I was called to be here; this is where I’m meant to
be. Whenever I thought of Rhode Island, and Providence,
and Brown, I felt peace and joy, and I learned that going
where there is peace is the same as going with God.
...in all your ways, submit to Him, and He
will make your paths straight
(PROVERBS 3:6, NIV)
Post Script: I didn’t talk about the signs, but there were many. I
found them not only when I was contemplating leaving Roswell,
but also once I arrived. I came to Rhode Island with no job,
no place to live, no friends. I started with nothing, but I ended
up with everything: a job at Brown, an apartment, friends, a
church community, an opportunity to be a writer and to travel.
I love Rhode Island: the woods, the beaches, the WaterFires,
the artists, the food, the people, the potential to sow seeds in
thirsty soil. Even during my earliest days of waitressing, when
I’d bring home $9 after a lunch shift and worry I wouldn’t be
able to pay rent, I still gave thanks that I was here. It felt like
home, even before it was home. One of my first friends told
me that it was no coincidence I ended up in Providence:
“God will provide,” he said. “It’s in the name.” It was he who
first showed me that Providence was at the center of it all.
Jennifer Currier is a staff member in the Center of
Alchol and Addiction Studies at Brown University.
Fall 2015
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