On graduating...again-

My latest journey began nearly six months ago when I made a spontaneous decision that led me to Prague. At the time I wanted an excuse to travel the world, to avoid the dreaded 9-5 cubicle--teaching English was the more pragmatic of my options. I declined an internship in DC, applied to the Language House Prague on the same day, and sent in my deposit a month later. After graduating university, I worked at a restaurant to save up as much as I could, sold my car, gave away everything I owned and left the country with one suitcase and a backpack. Appalachian State gave me four magical years, propelling me into the direction of my dreams through the people I met and the places it allowed me to see; I am forever grateful. But I had to start over, I had to ignore the voices around me speaking the lie over my life that university will have been the best four years. Instead I thanked them for kind wishes and made an intentional perspective change to see graduating as an opportunity to make something beautiful out of this life I've been given. To dance every chorus my heavenly Father sings over me, in wild abandon. I am free, I can now choose my education, and I've become a student of experience. I will learn as much as I can from the people whose paths intersect with mine. In Bohemia is where my first lesson began. After being a student my entire life, here I learned to teach. The roles were flipped, it was now my turn to stand in front of the class. It was my turn to inspire, to encourage, and I loved that more than anything.

With arms open wide and feet soon to dance to a new melody, I'm ready for my next education. Prague, Czech Republic, thank you for the new beginning. This city has expanded my heart further, giving me another home. To my very first students in my teaching career who challenged me to be the best, filling me with encouragement and confidence, I will remember you fondly always.  May you live everything. Na zdravi!

What's next in this chapter of fernweh? I'll be traveling a bit, saying some goodbyes and heading back to the states as I prepare for a more permanent move to Asia. Thank you for your sweet words, support, and for simply caring. I will continue recording my travels, patiently living into the unknown tomorrows and reaching out to the answers as they come. My wish is that you too will learn to love the questions themselves, for the real magic exists in the b e c o m i n g.

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.” ― Rainer Maria Rilke