Grad-u-a-tion:
noun
The
receiving or conferring of an academic degree or diploma
Graduation
is something you work for when you are in school. It’s the finish line that you
cross after all your work is put in. It’s the light at the end of the tunnel on
those days and nights where you just want to give up. It’s the end of a
journey. Whether it be kindergarten, 5th grade, 8th
grade, high school, undergraduate, or a higher level of education, friends and
family join together to celebrate an accomplishment that you achieved through
sweat, tears, laughter, and many sleepless nights (that really applies to
college and above). Parents, grandparents, teachers, and mentors push you to
that point with different methods, helping you along the way with
encouragement, but ultimately it’s up to you to get there.
What
those encouragers and supporters don’t tell you is that once you step over that
finish line, once you reach that light, once you step across that stage and
throw your hat in the air (unless it’s bobby pinned in), that’s when things
really get tough, that’s when a new journey begins, and that’s when lessons are
really learned.
Sure,
you learn things in school. You learn all about the Civil War and Abraham
Lincoln, about formulas and that E=MC squared. You learn that the Bronte
sisters needed some cheering up and love and that there is a proper way to play
dodgeball. You learn that teachers really can’t tell when you wrote a paper the
night before (sorry teachers) and that sometimes after 5 cups of coffee your answers
to take home tests begin to blend together. You learn life lessons as well,
because you are living your life. You learn about heart break, you learn which
friends will literally come pick you up on the side of the road, you learn
about family and those ties that are the strongest. You learn about trust and
that sometimes judgment keeps your heart a little safer.
But,
I have come to realize that since I walked across that stage a year ago to
collect my undergraduate diploma that I have learned more in this year about
life and myself than I ever did in school. I lend this to the fact that I have
been experiencing more this past year in a whole new life than I ever did
before. I have always stayed in my comfort zone, even going to college in the
same city I grew up. This opened up a whole new set of learning for myself when
I got thrown into this crazy experience in Ethiopia with Peace Corps.
I
have written many blogs about things I have learned in different aspects of my
life over here and in Peace Corps. I think the reason I have felt the need to
write these and publish these is to give myself a piece of mind and remind
myself that the struggles I go through are helping me, even when I don’t always
realize it. This past week especially, it’s been difficult being over here. I
am missing graduations (hence the post) of family and friends which are happy
occasions, and my cousin got in a serious accident which has been tough on my
family. I have come to realize that life is precious. Not only can things happen
and life can change in an instant, but life keeps moving along and you might
worry about the little (or big) things, but you will quickly look back and
realize that life is passing you by.
So
here it is—my list of things I have learned since graduation:
- - Family will always be there for
you
- - Family doesn’t always mean
people that share your blood
- - Books are a constant source of
comfort to escape reality
- - Music is a calming force that
will bring back memories and moments when it’s most needed
- - You are never too old for Disney
- - It doesn’t matter if you are 23,
sometimes you just need to snuggle with a stuffed animal, a cup of hot tea, and
a chick flick
- - Your true friends are the ones
willing to pick up the phone at 2am
- - Your true friends aren’t always
the ones you have known the longest
- - Distance doesn’t always make the
heart grow fonder
- - Distance, however, does help you
realize who will stick by you when times get tough
- - Boys stink
- - Life will pass you by if you
don’t stop to enjoy it
- - A year goes by in the blink of
an eye
- - Sometimes the only way to be
there for someone is to hold their hand while they are crying, you can’t change
the way things happened, but you can change how the future is dealt with
- - Courage isn’t always standing up
to face something or someone, sometimes courage is merely understanding how to
make yourself stronger
- - God gives us trials to work
through and we have to trust him, not matter how difficult it may be to do so
- - Trust is something that takes a
long time to build up, and seconds to destroy
- - Being cautious and guarded isn’t
always a bad thing
- - Becoming a part of a new culture
is more difficult than people realize
- - As teachers, you have the power
to make or break students and their belief in themselves, use that power wisely
- - Students teach you as much as you
teach them, it’s just not the same lessons as in the text book
- - Rain on the roof is a soothing
noise and a great smell that will help release anger and stress
- - Random text messages are the
best pick me ups, even on the worst days
- - Adventure doesn’t have to be
packing up and traveling across the world, it can be something as simple as
getting on a bus for a (supposedly) 20 minutes bus ride
- - Saying a prayer before getting
on a bus is something that should always be done
- - Times may be tough, but they
make you tougher
- - When put in extreme
circumstances, people change for the good and bad, and you have to learn how to
cope with that change
- - Patience really is a virtue, and
it’s one that comes with practice and deep breaths
- - Disorganization and
miscommunication is in every country in the world and in every place in those
countries
- - Flexibility really is necessary
in every day life
- - The only way to get through some
days is to remember it’s the little things in life that make it worth living,
and to find those little things (no matter how tiny)
- - Good coffee makes things better
- - When you force yourself to smile
you begin to believe that you are happy yourself
- - The best moments and memories
come from the most random experiences
Given,
most of these lessons just apply to my experience over here. For example,
“saying a prayer before getting on a bus is something that should always be
done” is not something that necessarily applies to the US. But, I think the
sentiment is about the same. I learned a lot of these things during my time at
home and you probably have learned them along the way as well. But, they have
been reinforced through my time since I walked across the stage.
I
reached the end of the tunnel, crossed the finish line, and walked across the
stage with the help of my family, friends, and mentors. But I almost
immediately started a new journey. This one also has an end-point, as it’s a
2-year commitment. But like school, I am learning lessons every day. This
experience has given me more of a “schooling” than I could ever have learned
sitting in a classroom, and for everything it has dragged me through, it has
taught me life lessons and things about myself I didn’t realize.
For
those who want to stay in the comfort zone of their lives, I give you a
challenge: explore the world, don’t stay in your comfort zone. The whole world
is a classroom filled with lessons waiting to be learned!
