Wow, time has flown by. When I arrived in Germany, I didn't know what to feel. I was excited but worried, and I feared that I wouldn't be able to build any connections and wouldn't attain or find the joy that I had experienced earlier in my life while traveling with my family. But, instead, my expectations have been blown out of the water, from ice-skating at a Weihnachtsmarkt to visiting the coast of Rostock and collecting shells along the beach to meeting so many people from so many countries, from Africa to Costa Rica.
All of this and more has put me at ease and refueled my drive to become more globally experienced and aware. I have worked hard to get where I am now. Creating and opening every opportunity that has come my way that has enabled me to complete my goal, even if it has been a bumpy road.
I have faced many challenges that have shaped me and led me to this moment. Moving around every three years forced me to cherish these new connections and to hold on to those moments, even if they were short. My earlier experiences in Heidelberg gave me the desire to create new happy memories.
When I studied four years of high school German, I progressed, but not as much I wanted to, and even during my first year in college, Covid prevented me from improving much further.
