Endings create space for new beginnings.
Akutu had spent so much time looking back—on friendships, relationships, and all the things that once defined her.
But now, she was ready to look ahead.
The last few weeks had felt like a quiet transformation.
Her morning walks turned into moments of clarity.
Her evenings, once filled with overthinking, were now spent writing, reading, and planning for the future.
And then, one day, an email changed everything.
Subject: Congratulations! You've Been Selected for the Student Exchange Program
She blinked.
Reread it.
Read it again.
And then, her heart raced.
The student exchange program—one she had applied to on a whim, never expecting to get in—was actually happening.
She would be spending a semester abroad, in a country she had never been to, surrounded by new faces, new experiences, new possibilities.
For the first time in a long time, the unknown didn't scare her.
It excited her.
That evening, she called Kojo.
"I got into the exchange program," she said breathlessly.
"Wait—what?!" he exclaimed. "Akutu, that's amazing!"
She laughed, the joy bubbling inside her. "I know, right?"
There was a pause, then his voice softened.
"You deserve this," he said. "You really do."
And for once, she truly believed it.
As she stood on her balcony later that night, staring at the endless sky, she whispered to herself:
"This is just the beginning."
The pulleys of life had shifted once again.