Kazakhstan | 2013

Kazakhstan was the first of my two study trips during my master’s program. The largest of all the “-stan” countries, Kazakhstan is tucked between Russia, Mongolia, and China and the culture definitely reflects the geographical intersection through the diversity of languages, body characteristics, geo-political orientations, transportation, architecture, and food & drink. As a small group…

Unconventional productivity

Ever since completing my master’s program, I have more often than not hesitated to reach out to update friends, family, and potential networking connections because I “haven’t made it yet”. There is not a big kid job at the top of my resume to prove that I am a capable and successful adult. There is…

Airplane blankets & family photos

I am a natural introvert and I recharge my energy through solitude. Solitude is not necessarily about being lonely; although I freely admit that I spent many hours and many days feeling lonely when I lived in Paris for a yearlong master’s program. To me, solitude is about finding stillness and a sense of peace…

“Do one thing everyday that scares you.”

In my experience, life can be extraordinarily colorful when I step outside of my comfort zone and do things that get my heart racing, my palms sweating, and my head spinning a little bit. There are many actions that elicit at least one of those bodily reactions from me. My body was in shock for…

Life isn’t about you

I have not lived for that long. I haven’t even seen my quarter-of-a-century birthday yet. I definitely have not figured out “what I want to be when I grow up” yet. But I do understand that my life is not actually about me. That may sound overly optimistic, exceedingly naïve, and pompously self-sacrificing, but if…