Day 32

Name: Karen Klett

Profession: Student, Northeastern University

Location: Her apartment, Boston

Question: Why are you here?

Answer: Because God has a plan for me

I had heard about Klett for weeks before I had met her. From what was said, she was supposed to be sweet, unassuming, quiet, and caring. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to confirm all those qualities and more tonight at her Valentine’s Day party, which I was hardly invited to but attended anyway. Despite my unfamiliarity with anyone else in attendance (including Klett), I was greeted with outstanding compassion, and discovered the college senior to be more than a kind soul, but a humble one: I was surprised to find that although it seemed like the room hung on her every word, she didn’t consider herself a leader, but a follower.

“I think because of the place I fell in my family, I’m a natural-born shut-my-mouth-and-go-along-for-the-ride,” she said.

Klett is one of five, the second youngest of the group. She talked to me warmly of her family, of her no-nonsense sister who tells embarrassing stories to strangers about physical fights she’s been in, her athletic sister whom everyone loves despite her limited conversation skills, and her soft-hearted oldest sister, mother of two beautiful boys.

Growing up in a household with that many people “was fun because there was always someone around,” she said. “And even right now, I feel so uncomfortable being alone. I feel much more comfortable in a group of people than by myself.”

Luckily, Klett said, she has company within her religious circle and with God.

“It’s more than going to church on Sunday,” she said. “It’s like I have a friend that I can trust.”

Klett is uncertain about her future. Her plans to be a publisher were shattered after working at a publishing company, and though she’s a history major with the vague dream of working at a museum or helping save children from the sex slave trade, she says that nothing is certain. Her only fixed goal is to make a difference to someone beyond herself.

“There is so much that needs to be done that I’d rather not work for a company and work my way up and reach a certain status,” she said. “I’d rather live my life to better other people’s lives. And I don’t know exactly how that’s going to happen, but that would be ideal.”

How does she feel about all this uncertainty?

“It does make me nervous, but ultimately, I know that it’s in God’s hands, and I know that, like the Bible says, worrying is not going to add a second to your life,” she said. “If I sit here and worry about what I’m going to do or stress out about it, it’s not going to help me going to figure out what to do.”