I’ve tried writing this
blog post 4 times before now. I wanted to write about how Global Launch has
been culture shock in itself with all the different, and very strongly
opinionated, people about to embark on their own bridge years. I wanted to
write about how even though I pride myself in being an extrovert, I found myself
needing an unexpected amount of time to myself. I wanted to write about how I
called my friend back home crying and telling them I was not cut out for this
and I wanted to book the next flight home. I wanted to write about all the
negative emotions I felt this week, but it seemed so out of character, so I’ve
decided to write about all the good things I wasn’t able to process until I was
sitting on a 15 hour flight to Singapore while staring into the seat in front
of me and trying not to wake up Juan who was sleeping on my shoulder.
So here it is. All the positive
things about Global Launch:
· The
food was so good! Real shout out to Stanford for
having a killer food court with the most vegetarian options I have ever seen.
· The
diversity of fellows was insane, and I absolutely love
hearing about so many different cultures.
· This
is literally the start of Global Citizen Year. The thing I had
been waiting over a year for was finally here and I definitely still have not
processed it even as I write this on my second flight on my way to Bombay.
· The
speakers were super interesting and insightful.
Everything I knew about anything was challenged and my brain was getting a
major workout.
· Finally
finding some friends. This one goes out to Erin and Tanurah
for being some seriously amazing people I could be myself with. Here’s a picture
of us a few hours before we said goodbye:
· The
days felt like forever, but the week flashed before my eyes.
It was a seriously jam packed week and I didn’t expect it would be anything like
it was.
· Fountain
Hopping! I'll just leave you with this:
· Explaining
American phrases to non-Americans. Believe it or not, the
term “ate it” in reference to falling is not a universal phrase and I had a
very confused reaction when I said it in front of my entire cohort.
· I
am so glad I am not going to college. I definitely do not
want to be stuck on some campus in between lectures only to have to squat so my
head would fit under the shower head.
· Saying
goodbye. I know, this one sounds so sad and it was, but let
me explain. I never expected to force myself to stay up until 3am just to say
goodbye to the people I had only met 5 days prior and to feel the growing emptiness
as each cohort left, but I did. I definitely didn’t expect to call some of
these people my friends, but I did and I can’t wait to see them again at
Re-Entry Training.
That’s all I’ve got, so I’ll
leave you with some of my favorite photos from the week (mostly taken by
Tanurah):
