You may remember from my 18-month reflection (see here) that my New Years Resolution, if you will, is to blog more consistently, more raw-ly, and to get out of my head. In this vein, Joe and I have signed up for a 6-week blogging challenge!
The challenge, called Blogging Abroad, is hosted by a few RPCVs who have committed their life's work to ethical service and cultural exchange (they are also a J&M couple, and yeah, they're pretty fab). They will give us challenge prompts twice per week for six weeks. We will do our best to put pen to paper (fingers to keys) and publish!
The first prompt is the “Why” for me being here in South
Africa. Why did I choose to live abroad? Why did I choose the Peace Corps? To
get to this answer, I have to go through a few “Whats” and one big “How.” Let’s travel back in time...
Three “What” Goals
Ever since I was a child I have touted only three life
goals:
- Goal #1: To become trilingual
- Goal #2: Live abroad (again)
- Goal #3: Learn to play the violin/fiddle
The Year: 1990
My family was living in a little German town called Nieder-Roden.
This town was unique because it was in a sort of cultural crossroads between
the local German culture and the significant population of foreigners. And this is the year that I, Shelly
Harper, would start kindergarten—at a real, German kindergarten! I was immersed
in this culture from morning arrivals, through snack time, naptime, and
classes. I was amazed by the ways in which I was the same as my classmates and
especially fascinated by my differences.
One major difference was that none of
my teachers spoke any English. In fact, my main interpreter during school was a
fellow kindergartener who spoke FOUR languages. FOUR! She spoke German out of
necessity (she had lived there almost all of her life), but she spoke two
additional languages in the home (her live-in grandmother spoke one and her
mother spoke another), and was learning English with her father because he
needed it for work. She immediately became the coolest person that I knew. In
my mind, she could go anywhere, to any country that ever existed and find
people to talk to. That was freedom. That was classy. So, at 5 years old I set
my first life goal.
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| My fifth birthday, with the birthday crown they gave me at kindergarten that day. Rocked it. |
- Goal #1: Become trilingual (because she had a whole five-year head start on me, so I could never possibly catch up to speaking four languages! Three would suffice.)
The Year: 1995
 |
| My first true obsession |
My family had just moved back stateside after a few
additional years in Europe. My adjustment to US culture was less than graceful,
shall I say. On top of my classic awkwardness, I started to realize that I saw
the world differently than many other kids. Things that I was obsessed with
they had never heard of before, like stories about the Holocaust or the musical
Les Misérables.
My family celebrated different holidays extracted from varying cultures, such
as Mardi Gras from our native Louisiana to the Feast of St. Nicholas from
Germany. We were different; I was different.
This came as a shock to me. I had been a foreigner for most
of my living memory. Now, in the one country where I felt I should fit
in, I felt more foreign than ever.
I thought about this a lot. I took an
inventory of all of the things that made me feel different and I realized
something—these were the things that I got most excited about in life. I LOVED
all of this weird hodge-podge mix of European history and culture that I had
absorbed from my time overseas. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
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| My favourite book growing up. It is part of a series by Carol Matas about the Holocaust |
My next realization was at how much more of this stuff there
is to learn out there. There are so many countries! With so many cultures! And
so much history! I would learn what I could about the US while I was here…but
you just look out, world! Because one day…
- Goal #2: Live abroad again
The Year(s): 2002/2004
I had hung out with band nerds in high school and college, loved
the violin (became a goal in 2002), and grew to enjoy Cajun music (added the
fiddle in 2004). Hence, Goal #3. But, this is unrelated to the story at hand.
Moving on.
One Big “How”
So by age 19, I had my three life goals pretty set.
Obviously I had other, practical goals like, finish university, get a job, be
happy, etc. I just figured that those are the kinds of things that happen along
the way in life. You can stumble into a job and wake up 20 years later having
had a “career” there. So I focused
on the goals that would require more diligence to seek out. I would have to be
intentional. I would have to examine how I wanted to live my life.
As these things go, this “How” question had to be supported
by my values—things like: community, travel, appreciation of cultures, helping
others, courage, and love.
It turns out my one big “How” that encompasses all of this
also came from my childhood, specifically a mantra of my former Girl Scout
leader (and mom):
- The Big How of Living: Leave the world better than you found it.
It’s that simple. Make someone smile on a crummy day. Teach someone something they didn’t know. Connect more deeply with those around you. Contribute. Understand another person better than you did before. Live in a way that uplifts those around you, wherever you are.
Wisdom of Children
Grown-ups always ask children what they want to be when they
grow up. By the time I was 10, I was already knew this much:
- I wanted to live abroad
- I wanted to learn another language (or two)
- I wanted to live in a way that uplifts people
- I wanted to do all of these things at once…so I wanted to be a teacher and join the Peace Corps.
I guess the real question is… now that I’ve completed half
of my life goals list, what do I do next?
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Post Your Thoughts!
Post Your Thoughts!
- What is one life goal that I should add to my list?
Thanks for sharing! I feel like a lost soul compared to your focus and determined goals from an early age. And to your point, you'll need to revise and/or add to your goals as you move forward :)
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