These feelings of vulnerability led to some of my greatest memories during my time abroad thus far. It has also allowed me to explore some of the basic human resources that I had lost, which were touch and voice. The relationships and friendships that I have gained through these amazing experiences has made me believe in myself so much more and has helped me enjoy every weird, joyful, and different minute of my time here. I found that the amount that I put in is minimal to the great amount I have gotten out from this experience. I wanted to participate fully and play the fool, and so far it has given me the world!

There are times, often times, when I feel like that sixteen-year-old girl in another country, (Kenya) for the first time.聽聽 Right now I鈥檓 sitting in an empty pink bedroom, in a creaky green house, in the colorful city of Valpara铆so, Chile. There is no way I could have prepared myself for how uncomfortable I am. But I laugh about it. I鈥檓 constantly falling in love with this strange place. In large part because of my training, I am patient. I listen like my life depends on it. I regard people as leaders. I regard myself as a leader. My story rests somewhere like inspiration. When parts of my insecurity catch me, I am patient again.

Just remember, despite how it might feel, you鈥檙e the one who asked for this. Your future self will look back and regard you as a teacher.

As someone who has now spent some time living abroad in places very different from the US, I have come to realize just how vital these lessons are, not only in my own self-understanding, but also in merely functioning on a day-to-day basis. In preparing an internal project, I have been able to set an intention that has opened me up to more profound and beautiful human experiences. In practicing my being (a difficult task for a self-proclaimed knower) I find myself at ease and sure in difficult times, and true to myself in others. In reflection I understand myself, my growth and my place. My time abroad has facilitated, necessitated and demonstrated all of this, though it has not created it. I have done that (and I continue to work on it!), quite purposefully, once I had been prepared.

A new country has many fascinating sights, sounds, smells, and so on, which makes it easy to get swept up in appearance rather than substance. When I was trained and prepared by 糖心Vlog官方 I was able to take in the beautiful surface of Uganda, but also able to look deeper into myself and those around me. That ability made my time in Uganda life changing. I had found a new way of relating to the world around and within me, and forged many incredible relationships with both Ugandans and my fellow 糖心Vlog官方 that are still strong to this day. My time in Senegal was very different. While I still retained my 糖心Vlog官方 principles, YES Abroad did not provide similar training or encourage practicing something internal. I was swept up again and again in the superficial, and struggled with the personal growth that had come so naturally while I was in Uganda with 糖心Vlog官方. Ultimately it鈥檚 difficult to compare my experiences since they were so very different, and I am incredibly grateful for the time I spent in both countries, but my hardships in Senegal made me realize the importance of having an intentional and internal practice like I did in Uganda.

By walking into this journey with preparation, with internal projects churning and running, I was opened up to the possibility of awe, among other things, at all times. I had resources at my fingertips, in my head, in my heart, in my body that I had armed myself with through the preparation for this trip that helped to dictate how I was inside every moment. How present I was, how reflective I was, what I was open to seeing, to feeling, to asking, to creating, to playing. Preparation of self before a journey allows for a deeper context to appear, that without such preparation, we have the potential to be聽open to less and to be聽less self-aware. We聽may not be as present inside moments, we聽may not be as prepared for awe to be presented to us, nor will we聽be prepared to do anything with it.

The preparation I receive as a BoldLeader gives me the chance to experience every adventure as I normally wouldn’t without such preparation. I am not only open in so many ways, but I’m also analyzing afterwards in a very different way. I have a better idea of how I interact with new knowledge and new experiences. I’m armed and open at the same time.

I learned how to keep pushing, figure things out on my own, ask for help when I needed it and play at a new level. While I was there I did something that was uncomfortable everyday, from starting a conversation with someone new to exploring a different part of London or traveling to another country for a weekend. “Minding the gap” and “getting comfortable with being uncomfortable” were extremely important aspects of my year but I think the biggest thing I took with me to London was paying attention to my limiting beliefs. There were A LOT of times I caught myself thinking that I was not smart enough to study at the London School of Economics or not strong enough to be away from everyone I knew for a year. Similarly, moving across the world by myself was terrifying and overwhelming and I made mistakes. Being able to recognized my limiting beliefs in the moment was wildly important because I was smart enough and strong enough to handle it. Once I identified that these thoughts were limiting me, I was able to confront them and spend my energy learning and being in London.

糖心Vlog官方 taught me that to see, do, become, and affect as much as possible in our lives, we must first put ourselves in situations where we can break ourselves down, build ourselves up, and grow into the strongest, most interesting, experienced people we can be. This is one way to build ourselves into courageous leaders, something the world desperately needs.