Are You Looking For a Sign?

by Tiffany Pham

Whether to mess with my head or teach me a lesson, I believe there are universal forces spinning strings within my life. I often hear phrases like “everything happens for a reason” or “this is a sign,” but I never took them seriously until I started noticing coincidental events happening to me. At first instinct, I was quick to dismiss them as mere coincidences, but the more I thought about them, the more I realized that the small probability of their occurrence suggests that there are universal forces at work. The best example of this is how the universe tends to place the right people in your life at the right times. These people could be important figures or just strangers you meet. It’s about interpreting what they are meant to teach you. 

As most stories of a young college girl go, I liked a boy and it didn’t work out. It all began in the fall semester when a mutual friend invited me to an event, and I immediately agreed because it was the perfect opportunity to talk to him, knowing he would be there. Throughout the entire week leading up to that event, I was in anticipation, daydreaming about talking to him and possibly sparking something between us. Somehow, those scenes in my head came alive when I finally saw him. We were left alone and talked for what felt like hours. Everything we discussed bounced back and forth between us so naturally. We talked about our music tastes, our shaky relationships with religion, our relationships with family, our love for travel, and our future aspirations. We connected over our shared desire to have careers that allow us to travel internationally. The way he spoke made me genuinely interested in everything he was saying because of how authentic and honest he sounded. After our long conversation concluded inside, we took a walk. I boldly wrapped my arm around his, and he took his hat off to place it on my head. When we returned to the event, he pulled me into a dance with him, and we danced all the way until it was time to go. 

The next day, I couldn’t help but replay those moments in my head, not believing how I managed to manifest my daydreams into reality. I was still in possession of his hat, so I nervously used that as an excuse to ask if he wanted to hang out again. Unfortunately, within minutes, my excitement was crushed. He apologized and explained that he was too focused on his goals and didn’t have time to start a relationship. That brief exchange led to months of sadness, delusion, and confusion every time I encountered him. We would have those long, interesting conversations each time we saw each other, which allowed me to get to know him more, forcing a cycle of me being so invested, only for it to lead nowhere. Eventually, though, the encounters stopped. It was as if he physically disappeared from everywhere except my mind, where he would constantly linger. 

After a couple of months of yearning over this boy, I decided it was time to move past it as I entered the new year. My first trip of 2025 was to St. Louis, Missouri, to visit my good friend for the weekend. She brought me to a college dance party that was happening in town. At some point during the event, I lost track of her in the crowd. While frantically trying to find her, I turned around and stumbled right into this boy, who smiled at me before playfully pulling me into a dance with him. It was unexpected but rather charming, so I asked for his name. I felt utter disbelief in my chest and gave him a wide-eyed, blank expression when he said the name that had been on my mind for the past couple of months. He also did the same thing of putting his hat on my head. A strange sense of déjà vu washed over me. Out of the hundred people in the room, how could stumbling into this stranger be a coincidence? I thought the universe was playing games with me. 

Later that night, the boy messaged me, asking if I wanted to meet him at the campus clock tower. He took me on a nighttime walk around that beautiful campus, where we talked and got to know each other. I thought I wouldn’t end up connecting with him, and his having the same name was a small coincidence that I had foolishly freaked out over. However, he proved me wrong as we talked. He was equally interesting and introspective. He loved art and traveling. He showed me his elaborate work and spoke passionately about his time in South Korea, which I enjoyed hearing about, especially since I had been there as well and adored it. Everything I learned about this stranger reminded me of the person who had been stuck in the back of my mind for months. 

At the time, it felt like the universe had dropped this stranger into my life as a cruel joke, forcing me to relive the same scene over again. I connect with someone who becomes inaccessible, either by choice or by distance. Now, though, I believe that in actuality, the universe placed this stranger in my life to serve a purpose. Strings were being pulled to get us to meet that night. He told me that as a busy person, he hardly ever goes out, but something compelled him to go out the night a random girl from out of town stumbled into him in a crowd of people. I needed to repeat a scene that I had regarded so highly in my mind to realize that there will always be interesting people I can share captivating moments with, and there are many meaningful connections waiting for me. Ultimately, everything—whether it’s meeting the right people at the right time or encountering something that feels like a cosmic sign—has a reason behind it.