Eat. Pray…Breathe

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Coming home from church today with some of my housemates, I began to think about the film Eat Pray Love. As I head into week 4 of my Swedish experience, I think I could accurately describe it with those terms.  I would also add โ€œLearnโ€ as I am certainly doing that, both in and out of the classroom!

Eat โ€“ I decided right before coming here that I would eat what was put in front of me (within reason).  No questions. No trying to have it made a different way, or with/without whatever. No thinking about calories.  Itโ€™s amazing how delicious and satisfying even the simplest food is when you just eat it.

Pray โ€“ I don’t think I could go a day without prayer if I tried (but why would I try?). Iโ€™ve found a few kyrkans (churches) to fellowship with here on Sundays. Services are surprisingly similar and I am even able to sing along on occasion. Mostly though itโ€™s about having that time in the presence of the Lord with other believers.  The language, denomination, and/or details of the service may be different but the praise and the faith is always the same.

ยญBreathe โ€“ I know it was โ€œloveโ€ for Julia Roberts, and if I stumble across it, great– but I noticed this past weekend that something was different for me.  I realized that I am breathing. Yes, I know we are all breathing topside of the ground but I mean Iโ€™m not stressing about any of the gazillion little things I would normally allow to occupy some portion of my day back at home. I am just living in these moments and experiencesโ€ฆjust breathing. And I am loving that!

Mellanie Griffin-Michael

<i>*BASAA Scholarship</i> Hello! My name is Mellanie, and I am a third year psychology student at Lesley University. Lesleyโ€™s campus is in Cambridge near Boston, MA but I am located in Atlanta, GA. What a commute, right?? Actually, I am an adult student in the online bachelorโ€™s program. Iโ€™m also the mother of two โ€œtraditional-agedโ€ college students, and when Iโ€™m not studying, or working as the receptionist at a user experience research firm, I am likely to be found listening to music, spending time with friends, practicing my Russian or some combination of the same. Iโ€™m planning to travel to Orebro University in Sweden as an exchange student for the fall semester. In addition to taking psychology and Swedish social policy courses, I will also be learning the Swedish language. Additionally, I plan to visit St Petersburg and try out my Russian skills, and to work with a local womenโ€™s or childrenโ€™s charity during my six months abroad. As a non-traditional student, the idea of simply returning to school to pursue my dream of becoming a psychologist seemed so large and almost insurmountable when I started this journey. Now, I am not only looking at the finish line on my bachelorโ€™s degree, but also at being the first adult online student from my school to participate in the exchange program. Not to mention traveling outside of the U.S. for the first time in my life. Itโ€™s exciting, humbling, and a little scaryโ€ฆbut Iโ€™m ready. Adjรถ fรถr nu (โ€œGoodbye for nowโ€ in Swedish)!