#youngglobalcitizen
2012 went by much too fast.
I can still vividly remember sitting in my friend’s apartment in Amsterdam last December writing out my “2011: Year in Review,” and now I’m sitting here in Dallas, Texas thinking back on 2012.
In lots of ways the years mirrored one another: in both I visited more than 20 countries- travelling enough to circle the globe twice! (this year 50,000 miles - last year 45,000), I studied abroad for another semester, spent too short of a time with family, completed a project with Trail of Seeds, and all the while went to school.
But the years were very different. In 2011 I was becoming the person I want to be. This year, I was being that person.
So, without more introduction, my top 10 moments of 2012- in no particular order, but divided by personal and professional:
Personal:
1. Hugging Serena- seeing my new niece
The newest addition to my family, my niece Serena, was born December 29th, 2011. Unfortunately, I was in Europe at the time, and wouldn’t get to see her until she was seven months old. I had just taken over a day traveling to Texas from India, and though I was exhausted, all I could do was smile when I saw this beautiful little baby who I had thought of so often. She didn’t fuss as I held her all the way out of the terminal and the next few days we spent a lot of time playing together. Sadly, my moving around made it another five months before I saw her again, but as I write I’m watching her play with all the new toys she got from her 1st birthday party, yesterday.
2. I Giorni by Ludovico Einaudi- 1st Piano Recital in 10 years
I come from a long line of musicians- there are photos of my great-great-grandfather playing in a quartet, my grandfather had a Masters degree in music at the age of 16, and another relative supposedly played in Sousa’s marching band. That said, my generation has somewhat dropped the ball. I used to play the piano for a few years when I was much younger, but since then I’ve only dabbled with the keys. This Fall however, I decided to take a two-credit course of private piano instruction. I told the teacher that my favorite song was Ludovico Einaudi’s “I Giorni”, but that I assumed it would be too difficult to learn. But when I got the sheet music out, I saw that though a challenge, it was possible. So I worked hard , every day for months, and when it came time for the recital, I did mess up once, but was incredibly happy sitting there, thinking of my grandfather, as I performed this beautiful song.
3. Hangover 3- Spring Break in Bangkok
I’ve loved Spring Break. I’ve spent my past few in New York, Mexico, Argentina, Antigua, the Bahamas, and celebrated my last with my best friend in Bangkok, Thailand. To me, Spring Break is all about experiencing new places, basking in the glory of being young, and maybe doing one or two stupid things. Well, Bangkok encapsulated all of that and more. One night in particular, which we refer to only as Hangover 3 (because the movie, Hangover 2, took place in Bangkok), will forever go down as a night to remember but to never be discussed.
4. Lion, Snails, and Burger- Alex in New York
My parents and sister dropped me off my freshman year in 2009, but other than that, I haven’t had a long visit from family (my grandparents came once for lunch). But this November, my sister, Alex, came to visit me for three days. I decided to make it a trip to remember, so I surprised her with tickets to the Lion King and took her to a famous restaurant in New York known for their $32 hamburger that started a trend of luxury burgers in the City. She also tried escargot, visited the office of the President of NYU, went for a night stroll in Central Park, and walked across the Brooklyn bridge. It was so fun to show her where my life has been for the past few years and to share some of my favorite parts with her, and she enjoyed some time away from Texas, relaxing in the best city in the world.
5. Ugly Sweater Party – seeing old friends in Indiana
It was 19 months between visits to my hometown of Evansville, Indiana, but when I returned and saw lots of old friends, it was as if I had never left. It was great to catch up, hear all of the exciting things people are doing now, and to reminisce about old times while making new memories at the same time. One night in particular, at an Ugly Sweater Christmas Party, I got to see a group of friends I used to spend every summer swimming and lifeguarding with. At one point as we were all talking and laughing, I looked around and said, “I think I forgot how much you all are my family.” It was a very nice feeling to see them again, but sad that it was only for one night.
6. Dead to Red – running with friends
While studying abroad in Abu Dhabi I got the awesome opportunity to join a team race running 242km (131miles) in Jordan from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea. It was a grueling 18 hour adventure that the ten runners and four staff completed in great moods and showing wonderful teamwork. It was a beautiful course, through the deserts and down to the sea, and the team grew close through the challenge. I especially got closer to two of my friends who I ended up completing a team triathlon with a couple months later. It was definitely a moment of realizing the incredible things our bodies can do when we keep our heads up and maintain a smile.
Professional
7. First exposure to consulting
I got really lucky in Abu Dhabi and through the kindness of one of my friend’s mother and the director who put trust in me, I was given an internship at a firm for the semester. I had thought that consulting was something I wanted to do, but working there, with such a great team and on fascinating issues, I knew for sure it was my goal for after graduation. Though it made my schedule crazy, working 30 hours a week, overloading on credits, and making new friends and being in a foreign city, I am so grateful for that experience and all that I learned.
8. Dream internship
In last year’s review I wrote about meeting with and interviewing for my dream company- a consulting firm that focuses on economic development and social impact. Well, this year, I interviewed a couple more times and ended up being offered a Summer position in India. I spent 10 weeks working on incredible projects, with great co-workers, and again solidifying my desire to do management and strategy consulting full-time. It was unbelievable to be in the office and on global-calls with the firm I had dreamt about for so long- and it gave me many new things to think about moving forward.
9. Dream job
In consulting there is one firm that stands above the rest, and I’m fortunate enough to be joining it in a few months. After weighing all my options from the two great firms I worked for in the past, I knew that this firm would best prepare me for the future and be the place where I can make the kind of impact that I most desire.
10. Trail of Seeds Rd. 2
In August I embarked on the second project for Trail of Seeds. This time there was a team of seven students, five carefully though through workshops, and a nice grant giving us a good amount of fund to disburse to the community. It was great to be with friends in a new location, doing work that we know is effective and beneficial, and watching the organization grow. We did a few things wrong, but lots of things right, and going into the future, I think this experience will teach us a lot about how to be a better organization with a stronger impact.
Looking ahead:
With 2012 being so amazing, it might seem hard to live up to, but I know that 2013 will be my best year yet. I’ve always told myself “every year will be better than the rest” and thus far I’ve done pretty good by that. So, what isin store for 2013? Well tomorrow Trail of Seeds’ third project will start in St. Kitts and Nevis, there will then be a spin-off of sorts with student who have learned our approach doing a project in South Dakota, and we are planning a project in Socotra, Yemen for next August, as well as workshops to teach more students about Culturally Sustainable Development and further our impact. After St. Kitts, I will spend seven weeks traveling through Southern Africa- being with a friend for the first month and then spending the last three weeks taking some time to myself, reflecting on where I’ve been and where I’m going, and preparing for the next steps in life. I will then start my position in Abu Dhabi in March, and the next nine months will be full of traveling to client-sites, setting up a new life in the UAE, and improving on new things and mastering the old!
I’m most excited about 2013 because I feel like it is the start of the third part of my life. The first being growing up in Indiana until the age of 16, the second being the past six years at boarding school and university- traveling around the world, and now the third being out as an adult in this crazy world, making my own money, having my own home, and progressing into the future!
A reader, ‘notmebutyou’, submitted the comment below:
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I’m currently studying abroad, and hadn’t realized that I was struggling with the tension between reflection and action until I read this article; I also thought it fit well with your most recent post about being back to blogging. What do you think? How do you balance the two when you travel (and when you’re at home)?
(I’m glad you’re back, also!)
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Balancing reflection and action is really tough, but I think giving the question a lot of consideration can help to maximize experiences. Just constantly going, and moving, and doing, is fantastic and exhilarating, but at some point there needs to be thought put into the questions of “why is it so enjoyable?” “what does it all mean to the world, and to myself?” and “where is it all leading?"
Society has too heavily romanticized the ideals of 'living in the present,’ and pretends that we are static beings who can go by ephemeral joys. But no, we are incredibly dynamic and everything we do now has been caused by everything we’ve done in the past and will affect everything we do in the future. Disregarding this backward and forward looking element of all experiences takes away from their fascinatingly intricate realities. It is important to stimulate your five senses of physical perception (hearing, sight, smell, touch, and taste), but it is even more important to stimulate your intellectual perception. Doing so allows us to enjoy existence in a higher way. In fact, that is one of the reasons why we need to sleep, so our minds can process all that has happened while we’re awake!
However, thinking too much is similarly handicapping. You can’t spend one hour a day being active and then twenty-three thinking about all of the one activity’s various levels of relevance to life- if someone did that, then they wouldn’t really be living at all! It depends of course on the specific situation: I might spend no time reflecting on the cereal I ate for breakfast, a little time reflecting on the craziness I saw at Times Square tonight, and probably a lot of time unpacking my visit to an election center in Venezuela. The importance of certain events can wane over the years, or gain more importance overtime, and some things can be thought of in private, while others might be useful to talk to someone else about, even maybe a professional. Overall, to reflect you have to first live the experience- thoughts can be a wonderful complement- but too much reflection may hinder new experiences.
As you can see, balances like these are aggravating because the importance of both aspects is so clear, but too much of either hinders the other. Traveling is complicated too because while in new locations there is so much stimuli that it can be overwhelming, but we also tend to pressure ourselves to get as much in as we can in a short amount of time. At home it can be more calming and thus more enabling for reflection. I guess that I’ve balanced the two by really beginning to see the world as my home, and adopting this kind of home-calm while in extremely 'foreign’ situations. Having this attitude, as well as being able to see the need to dedicate time to both action and reflection, has given me an ability to balance the two pretty well. But some of the things that require more deep thinking, I still want a nice vacation to sit and discover.
I’m glad that the post helped you to think about your own experience while studying abroad, and I’d love to hear more about how you balance the two in the future.
Thanks for readings, and especially for sending the comment and question!
