With 7.6 billion people actively interacting and living on this planet, it is almost absolutely certain that we have come across some miraculous events that took overwhelming amounts of luck. But luck doesn’t always come your way when you need it most. The chances of something happening are very slim, and sometimes you cannot expect anything. Although this may be the case sometimes, we still have to look on the bright side of things and tell ourselves that nothing is impossible. There could be a matter of seconds before you open your eyes to a miracle.  Here is one of those moments where I had the most unexpected plot twists of my life.

It all began when we parked in the parking lot of my elementary school. Just thinking about it gives me overwhelming nostalgia for all of the other memories I have experienced there. We strolled through the main door and headed towards the cafeteria where the Winter Party was starting. My mind was still engaging in the raffles that we had put into the jar the day before.

After waiting for a few minutes, the principal stepped into the front of the crowded tables of people eager to find out if the precious slips of paper they had put into the jar had won anything. The principal soon announced the commencing of the raffle ticket event that is hosted annually. The first few raffle prizes were small, which I wasn’t too excited to see if I had won. After the first few excited winners were called, the real prizes started being called. I waited for my name to be called, but it just never happened. Winner to winner, every time someone was called up, I got less hopeful. It had seemed like all of the raffles I had hoped to win had already been taken. I had started to think that this wasn’t my year.

          As the last raffle was called, all of my energy and hope had seemed to have drained out of my body. Suddenly, the principal came back up to the stage. He announced that there was one more selection that everyone must’ve forgotten about. It was the “Principal of the Day” selection, the most important one that sat as the biggest jar right on the far right of the jar table. I had put a raffle in the last one just to see if I could give it a try even though my chances were really low. There had seemed to be almost 80 to 90 tickets in that one, which makes it even harder to win. I knew that this was my last chance, so I listened silently as they announced the winner.

“And the winner of our “Principal of the Day” raffle is...Young Xu!”

          I suddenly gained monstrous energy. It was as if all of the enthusiasm that I had lost had suddenly come back to me. My heart was rapidly racing as I stood up and proudly walked up to the front where I was awarded a colorful certificate with a bright and bold “Principal of the Day” printed onto it.

          A million questions popped into my head as we rode home peacefully. How had I been selected out of all of those tickets? How had my slip of paper been caught into the principal’s palm as he reached in to grab it? Amazed, I was almost more astonished about the odds of how that happened than my actual prize. Once I got home, I rethought everything that had just happened. It almost seemed surreal.

          Although this event may have not been as vast as some other miraculous achievements, it is still indulged in my heart, telling me that nothing is impossible even when it may seem like it. Something as small as winning a raffle ticket can compare to winning a lottery. You get the same sensation as your name is called, or the winning pattern is glimmering on your eyes, as you scratch the final hidden symbol off. The sensation where you suddenly rethink what had just happened and finally realise that life is full of unexpected events. Nothing can be expected, even if the odds disagree. Sometimes you just have to “expect for the worst, hope for the best.”

 

 

-Young