Blog 2 — Goals/Metas/Réalisations
It’s not the first time I’ve been asked what my goals are for this year. As I sit infront of my computer trying to formulate a single way to comprise all my aspiratioins and dreams for this year into three cohesive goals, I realize its counterintuivite to what I want to accomplish as the list is endless :)
Language acquisition: The first half of my Gap year I will be living in Honduras with my grandfather volunteering at Escuela Internacional La Lima working with local children teaching them English. During my time there I will be helping teach the English language and break fear barriers put up by the younger children apprehensive of the upcoming school year. As the school follows english language curriculum I hope that with each and every passing day the children I am able to help will strengthen their language skills. During the second half of my year, living in Southern Belgium, my language acquisitin goal will shift to that of my personal growth. I do understand that it learning a new language does not happen overnight, so during my spare time in Honduras I will begin learning the basics of the French language. My goal is to come back to Florida in June obtaining a basic conversational level of French.
Independence: December 2017, the idea of taking a Gap Year bypassed my mind due to the fear of being on my own brought me. Yes, yes, I know…in college I will also be technically on my own, but I will not be half a world away, I will not be living with a different family or will I have no familiar faces. Yet the beauty of a Gap Year later struck me after my realization that this completely different, focused, exciting, finite period of time I will have decided to take between life stanges will give me the opportunity to breath, and enjoy my time being 18/19 before diving into university life. I will accomplish independence throught the opportunity this gap year will give me of living in a new environment, having to make my own decisions, trusting in myself, and stepping out of my comfortzone in order to expand my horizions of future opportunities
Oh the people I will meet: What excites me most about my gap year in a foreign country is the people I will encounter this year. I’ve taken deep thought about what is to come in this year, and I realized that in my life timeline, had I chosen otherwise than to take this extraordinary oportunity, I would later on not have the same positive consequences; I would not meet people that I maybe am meant to meet. Had I not taken this jump into the unknown, I would not have this valuable life experience to share with everyone and anyone I encounter. So, in order to fulfill my goal of meeting new people I woudl otherwise never meet and possibly for lifelong connections and friendships, I will commence trip with an open mind, introduce myslef to as many people as I can, no matter how intimitating it may be, regardless of my language skills, and simply make the most out of every day. In the end I hope that I will form bonds that will be incredibly hard to leave behind, as I have already formed at home.
As I write about my personal goals, I cannot go further without saying that the most important goal that I hope to accomplish during my time abroad is to make an impact in someones life. A goal as big as wanting to help an entire community of course desirable and possibly achievable; if I can come home at the end of my gap year knowing I deeply impacting a persons life and changed it around for the better, I will eternally be happy and grateful for this wonderful opportuity ive been granted.
