Now is just your chance to fly higher

Glory to God for All Things…. Keep reading, this isn’t a religious education post. I felt the need to start like this because this is how every reflective moment begins for me. How every day begins for me. It keeps me humble and grateful that every day is a blessing, a new opportunity. Glory to God for All Things. This is exactly how I’m feeling as I’m sitting in the airport waiting to board my flight to Johannesburg. Nerves are HIGH. But it’s nervousness mingled with excitement, with the knowledge that I’m looking over a precipice, and something new is about to begin. It’s compelling and terrifying and rewarding. It’s a whole lot of potential energy yearning to become kinetic.

I was drawn to the Minerva Fellowship for many reasons. We all are called to do something in this life- I don’t know what my calling is, but I do know I can’t find it standing still. I have to keep moving. Exploring. After studying abroad in Brazil, which provided me an invaluable learning experience, I knew I wanted more, that my yearning for cultural understanding and immersion would never quite be satisfied. I want to engage with the people, to live among them and learn from them, and in turn share some of my own knowledge, as a Gender studies major, as a woman, as an American, and as a human.

I loved Union, so much, and all my thoughts and feelings towards this amazing institution will be saved for a different post. For now, I’ll say this. Union gave me the foundation I needed to always look outward, to always seek to better the world I live in. A thirst for knowledge, for justice, and for love. The words of my own graduation speech come to mind– “This isn’t a leave the nest spread your wings and fly type moment. You’re. already. flying. Union gave you the opportunities to do that, and now is just your chance to fly higher.” I’m taking what I know, what I love, what I’m passionate about, and using it to do big things in the big world, one step at a time.