Reason.Season.Lifetime
Throughout my gap year, I have had the privilege of meeting a multitude of wonderful people who have either been with me for long and short periods of time. I choose to believe that they have all impacted my life in one way or another; from teaching me life lessons to inspiring and motivating me. Each and every one of these people has made my gap year an enriching learning experience.
I met Alicia during my second week of volunteering in Honduras at Centro de Nutrición Infantil Las Mercedes when my family and I devoted a fraction of our afternoon to bringing the children sweet snacks to brighten their day. I won’t say that my bond with her was strong from the beginning, and I understand why. The children are fragile, in need of love from the community so my willingness to volunteer was no surprise yet my commitment was put into question given past experiences with other members of the community. My constant appearance at the center soon changed her apprehensiveness to trust.
During my time there, that now feels short, I found my home away from home with Alicia’s help. She became a friend. As often as I saw her be the ray of sunshine illuminating the lives of the children, I also saw her do the work no one else wanted to do. She worked tireless hours: driving the children to school to medical appointments, creating presentations to earn funds, organizing bazaars, running the community outreach program for families of low income with malnourished children, and ensuring the staff was equipped with the necessary resources to take care of the kids (etc)…all while maintaining her own household and son as a single mother.
While at home for winter break I was privileged enough to host Alicia at my home in Florida as she was on a mission trip trying to win money for the nutrition center. Her brief visit was enlightening as I learned that at the age of 16 she joined a monastery following a religious calling and by the age of 19 the Father has asked to her assume the role of director of the nutrition center. I was shocked to learn that Alicia had so much responsibility at such a young age, at my age! Through her example, I learned the meaning of having a selfless and purposeful life. No one is born with a predetermined purpose, but if we want to have a meaningful life we have to make it. Despite adversity, Alicia was able to self-generate goals and take action to help those less fortunate than her.
Although our lives are different, I have been inspired by her generosity to dedicate her life to a cause larger than her self and I aspire to do the same with my life.
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Life is funny in the way it brings people into one’s life, and just as easily and quickly can take them away. The strange part is that we don’t stop and think about the value these small encounters have. For some reason, I had a lot more trouble writing this blog than I thought I would. I didn’t think it was going to be hard to write about a person until I had to analyze their significance and purpose in my life. With this being said I feel its a necessity to write about a stranger I met in Paris.
I don’t recall his name and he probably doesn’t remember mine, but our paths crossed simply because he overheard me speaking in English on the phone. As soon as I hung up he approached me and asked if I was American given my accent, and explained to me that he needed to practice his English as not many people in Paris speak English. Stranger danger I probably should have run, but soon after explaining his reason for approaching me he began to tell me about his past…he was born in Algeria to his Algerian mother and a French father and lived there several years before moving to the northern region of France. He is now a Grad student at a university in Paris and has lived in Hong Kong and London.
Our encounter must have lasted about 30–40minutes. During that short period of time, he spoke to me about his family’s voyage to France in search for better opportunity, his daily runs across the border to Belgium, his many trips around the world, and work. I wish I had more information about him to write, but it’s not until now that I realize he subconsciously instilled a drive to aspire for a successful life through hard work. His dedication to thrive in his education — learning French, English, Mandarin, and Arabic — and in his personal life was manifested in the passionate way he spoke about every aspect of his life. His audacious initiative to stop a complete stranger just to have a conversation in English surprised me yet also gave me perspective on life without barriers or regrets.
