Continuing the Journey

Moving to a new place, for however long you might stay, is quite the adventure. Going in you never expect to love it, appreciate it, or be as frustrated with it as much as your original home, but what is astonishing is that every new place tends to find its way into your heart. It never replaces any previous home or experience, but creates more space for another.

I entered this semester with the excitement of seeing a new place, guessing that I would be busy with school work but was going to live up every chance I could possibly get to see new places and experience new adventures. I did all these things. But what surprised me even more was the level of depth that I created here—with the people, town, store owners, dogs on the street, taxi drivers, security at the grocery store, cleaning ladies of the apartment stairwells, and random people on the street. This semester created space for me to truly live out what I was learning in class. Studying Romania’s culture, history, and language and then going into the culture and watching it play out. We learned about sustainable development and what that means for Romania, how New Horizons Foundation is dedicated to making it happen, and then carried that knowledge over by studying about other countries across the world. I have come out of class, or should I say daily activities, with a new awareness and appreciation for my culture, Romanian culture, and the reasons that those cultures are unique.

So what now? Do I have to say goodbye? Do I have to look on this semester with sadness that it is ending, or happiness that it is ending? No. This semester has taught me amazing things. Opened up my eyes to topics and realities that I have never been aware of before and now my task is to continue the journey. God blessed me with the chance to come here, learn from Dana and Brandi Bates, Kadie Becker and the rest of the New Horizons Foundation staff and moving back home is the chance to take the things I have learned and put them into practice. Yes, we have left Lupeni with no concrete ideas as to when we might return, but that doesn’t mean the journey is over. It is not ending, rather, it is continuing, on to a new place, with new experiences under our belts that will help us move forward.

A heartfelt thank you to all those who made this semester possible which includes both those people in Romania and those back home who supported me. It has truly been a blessing.