Now that it has been almost an entire month since the 40+ hour travel home from Samoa, I have had time to stop and think about how my life changed in the past four months and what I experienced. On one of my flights home, I decided to make a list of only a few of the “things Samoa has taught me”. First and foremost, Samoa taught me to be outspoken yet cautious. Meaning, I learned that I will be face with countless opportunities and while yes, I am willing to accept new experiences head on, I also have to realize that I can and will only do what I am capable and comfortable with, not simply because someones tells me to do something. I became hyper-aware that by being 7,000 miles away from home, the only person who can really help me or support me is myself. Take a hike I went on in Fiji (in a previous blog post) for example. I accepted this as a challenge without really knowing full well what I was in for. However, once I decided to take this on, I knew that I had to be careful with every step and trust my own abilities and sometimes need to trust my own instincts more so than someone I’ve known for a mere 3 months. It was one of the scariest 4 hours of my trip. With this being said, I cherish this experience and will always appreciate my decision to go abroad to Samoa. I hope students who go abroad to Samoa in the future can let me relive some wonderful memories from abroad.
