I admit it, I am a complete sucker for self-reflection and nostalgia for past experiences. I love to reflect and what better opportunity to do that than on the ending of my Master's degree at Royal Holloway. This year has gone by SO quickly. I underline it because I know that is a clichéd thing to say, but it really is true. I've been in the UK for a little over a year now, and I can honestly say that life could not be more different, yet exciting, than it was a year ago. A year ago I was on the edge of a personal precipice, basically throwing myself over the edge in order to reinvent myself. I left a life behind that I happened to like very much because I had a deep-seeded feeling that something of colossal importance was missing from it. I'm sure that each and everyone of you that I left behind at home was probably scared for me at some point, or maybe still are; I'd have been scared for myself too if I didn't know myself better. The point is, that I could have been ok at home, but I don't think that I would have been completely happy. If there is one thing that this year has taught me (and there have been so many life lessons that came out of it) is the immense importance of being able to read and understand yourself. I took this year to focus on me, and to figure out what I wanted; in short, it has been a year of self-discovery and what I've concluded is that I don't ever want to be just ok. I want to be happy and the people that I choose to surround myself with both in England and in America are people that subscribe to that.
This year has been the best year of my life, despite having periods of intense homesickness or sadness. It has changed my outlook on people and life more profoundly than anything else up to this period in my life. I can't say where (or what continent) my future career will take me, but what I can say is that for right now, London is the perfect place for me. I will begin the next phase of my life at the end of September, my PhD program at University College London, and my hopes for the next year of my life in London are to keep learning, thinking about, and exploring the people and places directly around me. I am, at my heart, a people person and nothing gives me greater pleasure than getting to know people from all walks of life and learning about how they do and see things. As my aunt Mary says, "People are where I get my energy from" and I subscribe wholeheartedly to that. So bring on year two in England! I have a feeling that things won't be slowing down in London-town anytime soon.
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| My Finished Dissertation :) |
