Last Semester at school....is that really possible!

So this last year has been a little surreal. I have traveled to a total of four countries, Hungary, Italy, France and Turkey,I have traveled all around Romania, I have hosted my parents, I attended many summer camps, I moved and I started at a new school. There has been so much that it is hard to believe that I am now starting my last semester here in Romania. In less than 5 months I will be on a plane headed back to The United States. Sometimes it feels like I have been in Romania for ages, and then other times it feels like I just arrived a few months ago. I can't believe that the time for me to leave is almost here, when it feels like I have just started my work. It will surely be a bittersweet parting when the time comes to leave. Some may ask if it will be so difficult to leave, why not stay for another year? I did think about that, but as much as I love Romania, I miss my family even more. I also do not feel that teaching is the right career path for me and I want to get started on my graduate degree, assuming I get into grad school that is :) I also have missed so much with my nieces and nephew and I want to be there for them. I don't want to be that aunt whom they never see. It will be so wonderful when I finally get to hold them in my arms again.

Enough with the sappy stuff then, so this week I started school and was feeling very nostalgic about the events of the past year, mainly related to school and myself. While in Peace Corps I have learned so much. More than I think I could anticipate and it is difficult for me to see exactly what I have learned unless I actually sit down and analyze it. So here are some things that I have learned.

1.) Language -- I never thought that I would be able to learn how to communicate in a foreign language. When I was in high school I struggled through Spanish, while I understood the vocabulary I had absolutely now speaking abilities and I couldn't apply it in any sort of situation, much less and everyday situation. Within my first year I did learn the language to a rather high level and I was almost always able to get my point across in a variety of situations. In the past year my language has improved even more and I am able to have a minimum of 10 minute conversations and up to several hour conversations with little to no problems in communication. I am so proud of myself for learning this language and for always pushing myself to get better.

2.) Assertiveness -- Sometimes it is very difficult to stick up for yourself. I have always found this something very difficult to do, I would just ignore things and hope the negative feelings would eventually go away, which of course they did not. This option seemed a better one to me, because the idea of confrontation terrified me because I would always freeze up and feel this emotion of tension whenever it would happen, often leaving me at a loss of words and unable to stick up for myself. However asking for a site change was the first step in me sticking up for myself. I was very adamant about my request because I knew that it was the right thing for me. I thought long and hard about even making the request, and once I felt I had no other options left for me I made it. While it was not an easy process I stuck with it and it proved worth it in the end. This year in my school has been wonderful, and I have continued sticking up for myself, even though the occasion comes up so infrequently. I still need improvement but feel I am well on my way to developing a skill that will only benefit me in the future.

3.) Open -minded -- I have become much more open minded since being here in Romania. This is not necessarily due to Romania itself, but more so to the people I have met within my group and the groups before and after me. Every one of my fellow volunteers is different and each one has challenged my opinions in one way or another, but also open my eyes up to different perspectives. While I don't necessarily agree with each perspective, it helps me to further formulate my opinions regarding certain things and to be certain of the opinions I hold, by looking at from various angles. I think this has helped me to become a better person and I think it will make me a better therapist one day.

4.) Patience -- This is something that has developed, but still has a long way to go. I now have no trouble waiting up to an hour for a bus, because I know eventually one will come. Or waiting for someone to come fix something in your apartment, they may have said a half hour, but that is just an estimate, it could be up to two hours or more later. While I will look forward to having my own car again one day and having more control over my schedule, I feel this patience could come in handy in other situations, for example waiting for my nieces and nephew as they decide exactly what toy they want to bring with them or friends when they just can't seem to decide what to wear that day.

These are only a few of the things that I have learned, if I were to type everything I had learned we would be here for a very long time. In essence my experience so far has shaped me into a better person and I can only hope and pray that these will stay with me and I will continue to grow into and even better person as I return home and pursue my future. My Peace Corps experience has been an ongoing learning process and I look forward to what the final months of my service here will teach me. I am sure that I will have many more learning experiences that will continue to help me grow into what I hope to be an excellent person.