Pre-Departure Thoughts: Growing Up Is Fun – Fund for Education Abroad

I am at a fun point in life where everything is changing so fast. Although this garners its own set of stressors, I think growing up, for the most part, is fun. I am at a fun point in life where I am self-defining everything around me and learning about life stems from self-actualization. What does friendship really mean to me? What does self-love look like for me? What does relaxing look like for me? What does this approaching womanhood feel like to me? Amongst these many sessions of internal dialog, I inevitably came across the thought of defining what success looks like for me. I ruminated through so many questions– Is longevity a determinant of success? Does knowing when to pivot help curate success? Are success and failure really polar opposites?

Being immersed in higher education for three years now, I am aware that my environment silently projects the notion that high financially yielding professions sit at the apex of success. Being raised in a Haitian-immigrant led household has imposed the idea that success can only be achieved as a doctor, lawyer, or engineer. Living in America and experiencing its educational and various social intuitions also has reinforced that the epitome of success lies at the highest possible leadership positions– doctors, CEOs, presidents, and lawyers, for instance. Ironically, or maybe not so, I have found personal purpose in the medical field, and I am pursuing a professional career there. I don’t doubt that I subconsciously adopted some of the aforementioned social ideals, but I took some time to question the reason behind my choice. Was I conforming to the cookie cutter mold of success other people have sculpted, or was this decision led by individual thought? In figuring this out, I knew one thing for certain– I must remove myself from these environments to clearly see if I truly align within this field.

I believe people generally overestimate the amount of progress they can make short term and underestimate the amount of progress they can make long term. One thing I’m learning is how to embrace delayed gratification and how to fall in love with the journey of becoming whilst simply being. During this trip to London, some of my personal goals include being more present, carrying myself like the person who I want to be, and building upon my identity capital by exploring and acting in alignment with things I already love. So much unappreciated success lies in building a strong sense of self. This summer, I plan on putting an unwavering amount of attention into this. Change is great, change is dynamic. I harbor so much budding love for this experience that I will soon possess because there is so much untouched territory to feel.