First and foremost, take this as a disclaimer:
***I WHOLEHEARTEDLY BELIEVE THAT EVERY COLLEGE STUDENT SHOULD STUDY ABROAD***
***DO IT.***
I had the wonderful opportunity of spending a semester of my undergraduate career at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa for six months during my senior year of college. I didn't realize at the time that this experience would change me as a person and ultimately ruin any and every plan I had for my future.
Coming from the Midwest, "Iowa Nice" to be exact, I have lived a pretty sheltered life whether I like to admit it or not. So when I decided to hop on a plane and live half way across the world for a good chunk of time, it was no secret that I was embarking on a pretty great adventure. Up until that point, I had the simple mind of becoming a teacher and living in Iowa for the rest of my life mostly because I hadn't realized the endless opportunities that this world has to offer. Also, my Midwestern characteristics are like, on steroids or something, because I have been so humble my whole life that I've never really thought that I could be good at something.
Fast forward a couple months and picture a strange, overly nervous, American boy sitting on a beach in South Africa attempting to communicate in a foreign language with a group of kids and enjoying every minute of it. In that moment I was living my life not as an Iowan, not as a UNI Panther, not as a soccer player, friend, or even son. I was my own person interacting with complete strangers with virtually no commonalities. And you know what? It was spectacular. This is the first moment in my life that I realized I could be good at something. It's hard to say what that something is, but if anything else, I knew that I was loving life and life was loving me back.
I am good at living life.
I had been sitting on the beach with a beat up surf board and a book in my hand when a group of young native kids came running down the hill toward me. I knew right away they were going to ask me for candy because that is what tourists are for, right? Wrong. I had nothing to give these kids. However, I had been studying their language at the university I was attending and when they heard me say hello in their native tongue, I swear their smiles were as big as their dreams. I talked with them for hours, playing games, learning each other's names, and making jokes. I made them laugh. I taught them some English, they taught me some Xhosa. I felt a rush of happiness overcome me. I sat there on the beach just embracing everything my new friends had to offer.
You might be asking how this memory of mine turned out to ruin my life. And to that I say this:
Life isn't about the plans you make. It isn't even about the goals you set for yourself. That is all a bunch of bullsh*t. What life is about is learning to live in the moment and just being happy with what you have when you are where you are. I saw this in the kids I met that day and was so inspired that I realized that everything I have ever told myself before that day was a complete lie. I was not put on this earth to sit in a classroom in small town Iowa and teach 9th graders about social studies; a subject that I know they will detest and never use outside of the American school system.
And here I am now. My last semester of college and completely unready and uninspired with the degree I will soon graduate with. All because I studied abroad and learned more in one day than I will ever learn in any year of school. Am I upset that this beautiful memory of mine ruined everything I was ever taught; everything I have ever worked toward? No, not at all.
I am thankful.
I am scared.
But I am not mad.
Just because one part of my life might be over does not mean that there isn't more to come. I am happy that that part of my life was ruined! Now I am ready for a new chapter of my life to unfold and I hope that after reading this article that you are open to such a change, too. No guarantees, but hey, that's the beauty of it.
