A little bit of reflection on my time at Goucher

So here I sit, reflecting on my time at Goucher... What an amazing time that was! I laughed heartily, I cried heartily, I ate heartily, and I came to know some of the most thoughtful and inspiring people I’ve ever met in my life. ~Not bad for a mere ten days…

As I think about the first time I arrived on campus, I am reminded of how many misconceptions I had… Coming into this program, I thought I had done so much already. I had already been to so many places, seen so many things, and achieved so much as an undergraduate student. I had already spent almost ten years in the military, and I thought that I had been exposed to so much “cultural awareness” already. My ideas of culture and cultural sustainability were pretty solid, and I felt like I was truly ready to take the next step in achieving my Master’s Degree. However, after one day of class I quickly realized that all of my experiences and preconceived notions of myself (and others) were astonishingly limited… I had not done that much compared to half of the people around me… I had no idea of what cultural sustainability or awareness really looks like…And finally, cultural experiences cannot be summed up into some neat little package… It is truly so much deeper than that.

So what does all this mean then? What is the toolkit that I need to engage fully in this program? What are the things I will put into my basket? While I wrestle with these questions, I can feel absolute in knowing that this experience is not going to merely end up as some piece of paper on my office wall. I am not merely going to class… I am truly engaged. I am truly willing to step outside of myself and open myself up to others, and I have the confidence to know that others will do the same for me. Why? Because I believe we are more than just classmates. We are friends now. As I sit here, thousands of miles from half of you, I know fully that I am connected to you… each and every one of you. I can see your faces as I read your postings, and I feel an amazing bond between us. Even if we didn’t spend much time together during the residency, I feel that the time we did spend was unique and special in its own way. I am truly humbled to be among the rest of you, for it is through getting to know all of you, that I will ultimately know myself better.

Trying to put it all together, I can only come to the conclusion that I have been blessed. I have been blessed to be accepted into this warm and inviting community, and I have been blessed that I have the resources available to me in order to pursue my academic dreams. I don’t know what the final outcome looks like… I don’t know how my life will be affected when this is all said and done, and I don’t know what kinds of impacts my work will have upon my communities. Thinking about the maze parable, I expect that over the next two years I will find my way; regardless of which twists and turns I experience... What I do know however, is that those ten days in Maryland have paved the way for something great. It is indeed a great opportunity to be in this space with you all, and I am inspired to once again step outside of myself and open myself up to something truly special.

Thank you to everybody. I have been truly humbled, and I cannot wait to engage with you all further!