We were told to go through the list and check only those that made sense to us and then go through it one more time and pick out just a few that resonated true the most with us. After choosing the most important ones to us we were told to explain why. This is the essay of sorts that I ended up with. I was asked to read it at the Rotary meeting tomorrow morning, and then I remembered that I have sort of been neglecting my blog and I thought you all might want to read it, so here goes... keep in mind this was the hand written version I wrote at Orientation, no editing so there are bound to be a few mistakes :)
#8 I have a clearer notion of what I want to do with my life.
Before I left for exchange, sure, I love to travel and I knew I wanted to go to college one day and have a family later on, but truly I had no idea about the person I wanted to be or the things I wanted to do. After exchange I feel much more directed and this is entirely due to one weekend on exchange which opened my eyes to what really makes me happy, to what makes me feel successful. I was invited to help teach at an English camp and of course, following the "just say yes to all opportunities" exchange student mantra I readily accepted. Little did I know that this three day camp would have such a direct impact on helping me realize what I want to accomplish in my life.
During camp we were split into groups, one or two teachers with eight students. All of the students were from hill tribes and the majority were orphans and lived year round at the school. In my group there was one girl, in particular who had a lot of difficulty even with the simplest parts of the lesson. At the end of the first day of camp I was worried that she hadn't enjoyed herself and that perhaps she was having a really difficult time. After dinner and a few group camp activities we were all heading off to bed. Just before I left, the girl from my group came and found me. She spoke to me in Thai, but the words she said were so much more important than the fact that she didn't say them to me in English. She said "I'm so glad you cam because now I don't have to be lonely anymore. I had a lot of fun today and I can't wait for tomorrow." I was speechless. Not only had she disproved my negativity about whether or not she had been enjoying the camp, she had said something else. She had said that I had made a difference in her life and that meant the world to me. I gave her a hug and told her that I too was glad I had come and glad I had met her and excited for tomorrow. I wished her sweet dreams and goodnight and she left. But then something else came to my attention; many other students, young and old, had gathered around. And suddenly I realized something, none of them had their parents to tuck them in, to wish them sweet dreams and I knew at that moment that if it took me my entire life I would hug each and every one of them goodnight. I would wish them sweet dreams, I would be there for them. When camp ended, I was distraught. How could this be over? But then I realized something, it's never over. There will always be someone who needs a hug, a smile, or someone to talk to and I will always be that person. I want to spend my life helping people in need and this camp was only the beginning.
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So that's that. Definitely need a shout out for Kathleen Madden if she's reading this! She's the one who organized and invited me to the English camp. Definitely life changing in all the right ways. Thanks!
Anyways, the snow has fallen here and I am loving it... for now! Twenty four hours in and I've already had a snowball fight, made a snowman, drank hot chocolate and been slightly sorta kinda in the ditch! Welcome Winter! I've missed you!
hugs,
kearn
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| This is my group at camp. All of these kids taught me something different and I love them and can't thank them enough for what they have shown me <3 |
