Get Gutsy: Get To Know Our World
Getting gutsy is all about stepping outside your comfort zone to reach your goals and live a life that makes you truly happy. This post is my entry for Jessica Lawlor’s Get Gutsy Essay Contest. To get involved and share your own gutsy story, check out this post for contest details and download a free copy of the inspiring Get Gutsy ebook.
When applying to colleges at the ripe age of 16, I had two criteria for my future four-year home:
1) A strong journalism program
2) Opportunities to study abroad
In fact, I wanted to study abroad so badly that at the end of that search I chose to live at home for the first year and a half and attend the local Penn State campus in Abington, PA in order to save money to fund a study abroad experience.
Until college, I had never been outside United States’ borders, yet my intrigue about how the rest of the world lived their daily lives infiltrated my daily interactions. I don’t know if it was a thirst for the “different” or the desire to live a rich and varied life full of diverse cultural experiences — but international countries, and their peoples, beckoned me.
I got gutsy and took that intrigue about what was happening outside our borders to overcome a fear of the unknown, and take the first leap.
The first time I ever lived outside of my parent's house and the hometown where I was born and raised, was in an apartment with five other Americans I never met before in the historical center of Florence, Italy. In other words, 5,158 miles away on another continent, in a country that spoke a language I had modest skills in.
Though against daunting circumstances, I rose to the occasion and rather than succumbing to fear embraced my excitement in the reality I now called my life, which resulted in incredible, pivotal realizations throughout that semester.
Some of my favorite views from that semester in Italy:
Italian latte and delicious Panini on one of my first days in Florence. January 2009
Wicker bike excursion around the fortress walls of the Tuscany-town of Lucca. January 2009
A beautiful Roma fountain right when exiting St. Peter’s Basilica. February 2009
I took a Fresco Painting class during my semester abroad at Palazzo Rucellai
The view from above the Almafi Coastal town of Positano. April 2009
An overarching impression of those experiences caused such a huge shift in my life and world outlook, however. The most intimidating experience I took on while living in Florence, ended up being the most fulfilling.
Through a connection with our study abroad university, I had the opportunity to interview for a position as an intern at Palazzo Vecchio, or Florence's City Hall. The castle-like building is filled to the brim with medieval, Medici history, and I had the honor to lead English-speaking tourists on the "Percorsi Segreti," or tour of the "secret passageways!"
Palazzo Vecchio on a chilly March evening, 2009.
In addition to working closely with my Italian colleagues, I met tourists from all over the world on a daily basis. Connecting over a shared experience of discovering the history, enchantment and beauty of a place, brought visitors from Russia, Denmark and Australia, to name a few, together.
These interactions were beautiful to watch, and even more fulfilling when they seemed to be fascinated with the stories I shared with them! I began to break my own preconceived stereotypes about their respective cultures just by having these interactions.
I returned from Italy with the desire to get to know even more of my world and sought opportunities on campus to participate in international service projects -- then suddenly, a professor dreamt up my dream class and made it a reality. I was selected for the International Reporting Class Trip to Cape Town, South Africa over spring break of my senior year.
Picture of me taking in the scene on the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa (March 2011) Photo by Kev Cirilli!
My friend, Mapz, who I met while interviewing students at the University of Cape Town -- a campus that seemed a lot like Penn State's campus. Here we are watching rugby match. March 2011
Now, I'll be honest, prior to this semester I knew nothing about South Africa, except what I gleaned from the Disney movie, The Color of Friendship, at a young age. I have to admit I did not know what to expect, except I remember telling many people when I returned that "it was a lot more modern than I expected!"
This trip above all helped me shed my preconceived notions about a "third-world" or developing country - and helped me realize no matter where a country may fall on the western determinations of what's "modern" there are still beautiful, progressive, intriguing debates and research happening all over the world. Never before had I realized there was NOT a hierarchy of knowledge or development - there are many different ways to live this life, which are shaped by the many different experiences and environments we find ourselves in.
I took that realization and applied compassion to it, though I know there are many different people that live varying degrees of comfortable to challenging lives in India - I jumped on the opportunity to participate in Penn State Schreyer Honors College International Service Project to spend a summer volunteering at an orphanage in India.
While there were many, many challenging moments during that time at the orphanage (read more about that experience on my blog), I learned mostly about the responsibility "do-gooders" have when going abroad to try to solve "problems." One must be open to understanding the community you intend to help -- and refrain from applying quick fixes that seem natural to an American. Above all else, there needs to be an emphasis on the sustainability of that help and a way for the locals to be able to take future ownership over the solution when you are no longer there.
Teaching a class at a local english speaking school during my time in India in 2011.
Some of the adorable youngsters at HOINA I played with often.
Helping the boys with homework (aka drawing Disney characters) during the evenings at the orphanage.
I loved these adorable orphans -- and found a strength in them I carry with me until this day, only emphasizing that "you can't let fear run your life." Though they had experienced many hardships in their short lives to that point, they smiled and giggled and played, and worked hard in school to have a promising future. They are fearless.
These are just some of the ways my life was transformed by cultural experiences and experiences abroad that I would not have had if I didn't shed my fear of the unknown. I wholeheartedly believe that as peoples, our fear of the unknown - from other people, to cultures, to countries, to religions - holds us back from truly embracing the diversity of this planet. In order to facilitate peace in our world, we all need to do our part to get to know our world. I challenge you to take the first step, which may be as simple as getting to know the Indian man sitting next to you on the train, or the girl wearing the hijab in your grad school class. Though you may not know where this conversation or friendship may take you, I can assure you it will only make you wiser. You can't let fear run your life. To achieve peace, we can't let fear run our world.
Moving to New York brings with it one challenge after another, yet when encountering those challenges I am constantly comforted by the fact that each day I can return to my desk at the Institute of International Education and live and breathe my passion for international exchange and peace through understanding; and support our efforts to double the number of U.S. students going abroad through #GenerationStudyAbroad.
Get Gutsy: Get to know our world.
I am happy to speak with anyone about how I was able to have all of these study abroad experiences, and how you can too. Here are some useful links to get you started:
Fulbright U.S. Student Program
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