Who Am I, What Do I Want and Where Do I Want to Be?

The first time I left North America, I headed for rural Thailand. Not having graduated high school more than two weeks prior, I was absolutely green to life outside my high school, seaside-town bubble. I thought I was prepared enough, just knowing that I’d be stepping far outside my comfort zone and comforts of local and regional cultural understanding, but I was damn wrong. I got off my fantastic Thai Airways flight and headed into the humidity and chaos of Bangkok, not knowing more than one word in Thai. This is how I began my first study abroad experience.

Have you ever considered living abroad? Where would you go? When and for how long? What does your ideal experience look like? Perhaps you’ve gone abroad and you’re thinking, “That was amazing, but what can I do with those experiences now?” Or maybe you’re a seasoned traveler and/or a professional in international education looking for the next step. This blog aims to inspire students, travelers, and international educators. Topics of this blog will span a wide breadth including: how to get started with study abroad/living abroad; how to finance an abroad experience; how to utilize an abroad experience in your career endeavors; and more specific information on my personal experiences as a traveler, ex-ex-pat, and as an international educator.

Just having graduated from high school, I had only a vague idea of who I was and who I wanted to be. I knew I wanted to travel and learn from diverse groups of people. I knew I wanted to better myself through learning other ways of doing, eating, learning, and watching, but I didn’t know what that meant. That six-week, short-term study abroad experience rocked my world more than any prior life experience. I was one of four known, token foreigners in the small town of Prachinburi. My wonderful host family was patient with me as I continuously made cultural blunders (bowing too low; not bowing low enough; not wearing the appropriate attire; not using the right pitch to communicate in the very limited Thai I picked up, just to name a few). Through a necessity to acclimate quickly and through error after error, I became more resourceful, capable, outgoing and a bit less judgmental. Though some of this growth happened after the conclusion of my program, self-reflection provided me a space to continuously grow through this international experience. I began to figure out who I was, what I wanted and where I wanted to be in my life.