"I am a human
being; nothing human can be alien to me."
Maya Angelou's words
kept running through my mind as I did final preparations for our journey
(buying necessities, figuring out how to pack under the weight limit, making
sure I did not forget my driver's license, and the other minutiae necessary for
a successful trip). I felt anxiety for the airport (after childhood the
excitement and whimsy of the airport has been replaced with the dread of
bureaucracy) and nervousness about meeting new people at Unidad Miami (I always
have felt nervous when meeting new people).
Upon reflecting on
my anxiety I felt as though some of it was warranted; I once caught a flight
right before boarding ended and on another journey my luggage was lost so my
worry about airports had a historical basis. However, some of my anxiety had a
base of fear – fear that I would not be liked, fear that I would not be
effective, fear that I would get physically lost, and fear that I would get
lost in translation when speaking Spanish. The common thread was a fear of
failure, but as Maya Angelou succinctly encompassed with her words, failure is
a part of the human experience, as is fear, and joy.
As I remembered what I
had forgotten to pack as we neared the airport, I reminded myself that what
matters in failure is how one recovers from those moments. In the case of when
my luggage went missing, I resolved to always travel with a well-packed
carry-on. I also decided to focus on my positive emotions, namely the
excitement I felt for exploring a city that I have only read about, reuniting with
the other participants of Duke Engage Miami to share this journey, and for the
new relationships that will form at Unidad Miami. The Duke Engage motto
is "Challenge yourself. Change your world" - I think we will also
experience internal changes as we navigate this new terrain and overcome any
setbacks, so let the changes within ourselves and the challenges
begin!
-Brenda Onyango
No comments:
Post a Comment