I am the type of person who will breeze through life with some random song, such as ‘We’re All In This Together’, stuck in my head while I smile through each day. This is a great character trait, considering I’m headed towards being a teacher and little kids love that kind of stuff. On the other hand, I never realized that a sunshine/rainbow/unicorn personality will never reach people the way an educated sunshine/rainbow/unicorn personality will. I’m not talking about Duke or UT education here; I mean the kind of education one gets from being in a new country surrounded by people who are speaking a language which you don’t understand and saying “there’s no place like home” gets you no where but stuck in a sweaty crowd while the world keeps spinning.
China taught me there is so much I don’t know about the world. I will die knowing maybe 7% of all things ever. The thing is, because of China, I’m ready to go learn as much of that 7% as I can before my soul is ready to rest. My mind…my thoughts, have always been eternal sunshine. China brought a discomfort, which led to storms and earthquakes from being lost in a new place mentally, yet the sun shining in my mind following the discomfort is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. It is easy to go through life barely scratching the surface and never facing reality and acting as a global citizen, but the confidence, the urgency, the desire to use my skills as much as I can for whoever they may help, is much more rewarding and brings the kind of sun that shines when a child is born.
Home took a new meaning for two months of my life and all I want is to experience that over and over and over again. There is something so beautiful about being welcomed into the home of strangers and being loved before you are even united.
I was fortunate enough to experience China with people who pushed me, annoyed me, made me laugh, and helped me grow. Home took a new meaning for two months of my life and all I want is to experience that over and over and over again. There is something so beautiful about being welcomed into the home of strangers and being loved before you are even united. It was as if I was born all over again. I became a sister and a daughter once more. My arrival was eagerly anticipated and despite many mistakes on my part, my family never stopped loving me and teaching me how to live in this giant new world. The day we left China, I left my family. I left 3 people who molded their lives on one of those spinning things specifically for my entrance. And now the clay is falling into the gaping hole which was created the moment I had to board the bus.
After going to China, then seeing America through the eyes of the students as I accompanied them on a tour, I see that going abroad can help the US just as well as domestic programs can. These students have a love for America that is definitely being lost by Americans more and more each day. The carefree way the students run around saying they love America has made me realize that, hey, I love America, too. I love America so much, that I want to help America grow even better than she is right now. I love America so much that I want to play my part as a global citizen to help others prosper in America domestically and from abroad. Since coming back from China I have been restless, a type of restlessness which can only be cured when I am once again in a classroom somewhere on this Earth acquiring that 7% and being a goofball with tiny humans.