Round Six: Fort Collins vs. Shaqlawa, Iraq

SHAQLAWA, Iraq—I woke that night to the echoes of an AK-47 and the thunderous blast of a rocket propelled grenade. My father, CEO of an international relief agency and missionary, told me that evening to sleep on the floor, that way I wouldn’t be hit by a stray bullet from the tragic war of hatred outside.

I was only 8 years old at the time and living in northern Iraq had its effects on me. I had several friends and had adapted to the culture with ease. Coming to understand and accept the horrors of war, however, never came easy. Sure, I quickly began to realize that war was bad, but that was simply because when gunshots were going off my parents wouldn’t allow me to play with my friends. Naturally, I developed a hatred for war’s unjust qualities.

As I near my graduation in May 2008, I look back on the difficult circumstances I have faced in my short time here in Fort Collins and chuckle at the simplicity of my college life compared to the adventures of my youth.

Aside from a few stressful final weeks, a slowly dying Minnesota Vikings franchise, and my continual failure at intramural sports, college has been, well, cake. I have yet to sleep on the floor because of bombs blowing up my neighbor’s house.

My electricity is reliable, and the candles in my room are there because I like the smell of French vanilla beans when I study, not because they provide light in case of a power outage.

But these are exceptionally obvious generalizations that Matlock or Columbo would readily throw away. Fort Collins is clearly safer than Iraq when it comes to the threat of war. We obviously have access to better utilities and certain freedoms are inherently protected significantly more.

The point, however, is that despite the fact that Fort Collins would seem to be a clear winner based on all these premises, it actually loses this week’s round! That’s right; Fort Collins loses this week on the basis of “adverse experiences that have caused growth.”

Even though my experience in Iraq featured fearful nights of ringing war, I have discovered that it is through these hard situations that the soul is strengthened, ambition is inspired and success is achieved.

It was once said that, “If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant. And if we did not sometimes taste pain, prosperity would not be so welcoming.”

And so today, I chose the lessons I learned in the midst of war over the years of relative ease in Fort Collins.