And so comes the last week of being abroad.
I do not know how many times have I thanked the universe for being here, but I keep being reminded that it is a blessing. One of my co-workers, who is a law student, reminded me the other day, saying she never got the chance to travel until law school, never as an undergrad. Then on the train, as I was traveling with my friend Sam, from Florence, Italy to Venice, we met a group of adults in their 60s, and one of the ladies, who was so dear and humble, told us that this was her first trip that she had been able to afford with her own money in lieu of a job trip or something not related to leisure travel. She usually chaperons middle school children and high school students on trips around Italy, France, and Greece, but this marked the first time she was traveling with her own money. I know more people who have barely or never traveled somewhere, and I keep meeting more. Yet, whenever I encounter people who remind me of it, it serves as a reality check and a reminder of the confluence of luck and opportunity I have been given.
Do not stop being grateful for everything you have, even the hard lessons, they will grow upon you and you will learn to embrace even the saddest one. We do learn from them.
For me, this semester was more about getting to know myself more and figuring out a few things that I would not have been able to do so in a classroom environment. It was about adulting and becoming more self-sufficient, about pondering past episodes of my life, about giving to others, about challenges, about living life at its fullest.
To the soon-to-be freshman/first-years, do look into studying abroad. I will not sugarcoat it, saying it is only ups, there are downs as well, but it is life trying to teach you the lessons and providing you with the tools you will need as an adult. It is a step in the right direction for complete adulthood.
Now, all I have in front of me is senior year. With this post I can officially say that I have successfully completed junior year and I am a college senior now. What awaits me? Only the future may tell. This year, for the first time, I have not secured anything for the summer yet, but I am not worried. I started applying to a bundle of things since September, but only rejections have come my way. I have to admit that I was a trifle anxious, nonetheless, I have to reconcile myself to the fact that I can only do what I do. I did everything on my part to secure something, but there has to be a reason that I am not seeing at the moment that may explain why I was not successful in finding it. Do not let yourself down—it is not the end of the world. Know that when you try to accomplish a goal, failure is always a possibility. We dread it—I dread it, but now that I have failed to obtain an internship/job, I feel fine knowing I gave the best of me. That life works in mysterious ways and that the destiny laughs at you when you make plans. If I cannot find a job for the summer, I will keep myself busy in other ways, trust me.
I’ll let you know how things end up working out in August. Until then, I wish you all a happy summer!
Best,
Santiago