PRIDE

Hey y'all !

I'm home now, but wrote this post a few weeks ago, before I left France.

As I'm finishing up my last two weeks on this side of the Atlantic, I'm taking time to reflect on what I have learned and accomplished this year.  I've been doing a lot of reading lately on being proud of yourself, not playing down your hard work, and in this spirit I want to share some of the things that I've learned about myself this year as well of some of the things that I'm especially proud of.

Yeah, I had a lot of help (DAD DAD DAD YOU ROCK DAD I LOVE YOU), but I got my own apartment.  I navigated the lease in French.  I opened a bank account in French.  I figured out health and home insurance in French.  I got a doctor in French and used French social security.

I figured out living on a budget.  I figured out how much money I spent per month on food and going out, and worked out that I could spend 5 euros a week to buy myself a bouquet of flowers, because I knew that having them in my apartment would make me smile.  I eventually figured out planning ahead so I wouldn't have to take money out of my American bank account to pay rent.

I gave careful thought to budgeting and travelling.  I travelled on the cheap and made the most of the cities I visited.  I used my own money and made decisions about where to go based on what I wanted to do.  I decided to treat myself and go to Paris just for one day to attend a concert.  I made decisions about how to spend my free time: teaching myself about photography, reading, writing, running, exploring my neighborhood... I worked on keeping my notebook close so that I could write down all the small miracles and hilarious things that I witnessed or participated in when I was out and about.

I've stayed in touch with a lot of people, especially my family and sisters.  The most important things we have in our lives are our relationships, and I am proud that I have actively cultivated valuable relationships with my sisters and parents despite being far away.   

I tried to do what was best for me: navigating when I needed to go to bed early and skip something fun so that I could attack the next day with all of my energy, and deciding when I needed to just go out and make the most of my evening.  I reminded myself to have confidence in my decisions and to take responsibility for the atmosphere that I created, wherever I was.  I reached out to friends when I needed help.

I figured out my city.  I got a bus pass -with the student rate!!  I made friends - from France, Australia, Canada, Jordan, Italy, Germany to name a few - and went to live music shows at bars, went to concerts in genres I was unfamiliar with.  I also made friends with the people at different market stalls and my esthetician.

In school, I thought every week about how to engage my students: what types of activities they enjoyed, what subjects would spark their interest, how to make activities work with their very basic levels of English but sophisticated levels of thought.  How to get them to participate, how to command respect, how to create a rapport.

I am so, so proud of myself and everything that I have done this year.  I'm currently home for an undetermined period of time as I search for a job in the community health research world in New York.

If you are reading this, you have contributed to my growth by being a positive influence in my life.  Our relationship helped me evolve and prepared me to spread my wings be the independant woman I am (still becoming).  Thank you.

xoxo,
Samantha

PS - I still have some great stories to tell about my last few weeks, so stay tuned!