There's a Place Off Ocean Avenue

Don't you ever wonder what's out there besides this small piece of earth you live on?

My name is Laura Michelle Hampton, I am sixteen years old. I'm about to begin my Junior year at a small private school in Gardendale, Alabama. I am never content.

Everyday I wait for life to really begin. What do I do to make that happen? Patience. I'm not good at that. I never will be.

Some people say it's a small world, I like to think differently. I live in America, the country people found refuge in. The place where people dreamed to live. The land of the free, the home of the brave. Why do I feel so far from where I am supposed to be? A place like this isn't for everyone. I live in the south, the heart of Dixie. But that's not what I'm looking for. My happiness will not be found in a country boy wearing blue jeans. Call me hard to please, but I'm looking for something more.

This world you call small has so much more to offer me. When will I find it? I'm starving for adventure, for something new. While I could be out finding waldo, I'm instead searching for x in an algebra equation. I'm trapped here; I need something beautiful.

There's a place in New York City where people may be rude and steal your cab, but hey, at least they know what they want. There's an island devoted to a statue. There's a tower that's leaning, but is still standing. There's a cathedral painted every color. There's a Colosseum that's full of history. There are monuments and landmarks. There's food I've never heard of. Things I will never taste, never see, or feel.

If God put me here on His creation, I want to see more than a small suburban city in Alabama.

I'm not sad anymore, I'm just tired of this place. 

I am in a hurry to grow up, and find what I am here for. I want to be a missionary and help the starving children. I want to see the plains of Africa. I want to be a writer and tell stories of new worlds. I want to be a nurse and heal the broken. I want to be a teacher and give passion to the apathetic. I want. I want. I want. Can't I do it all? I want a life to be proud of, something to leave behind.

I want to move away and not look back.


I may be in love, but I don't want to be married. I smile when I see kids, but I could never have them for my own. My life is a contradiction.

I've failed people over and over, and people have failed me in return. I want to go somewhere where the people don't know me, and I can be something different. Something meaningful.

My name is Laura Michelle Hampton. I am only sixteen years young. I am about to start my Junior year at a small private school in Gardendale, Alabama. Despite what I say, I will never know what I want.