The drive from Germany to the Czech Republic took about seven hours, most of which were spent reading Les Miserables, listening to music, and sleeping. When we first met our driver, Ronnie, in Germany, he warned us that technically we were required by law to wear our seat belts at all times and that we…
Tag: Personal development
Germany | 2011
Traveling from Russia to Germany required hopping on a plane. We waited for ages at the most-cramped gate at the airport in Moscow before finally boarding. When we arrived in Frankfort, Ronnie, our Dutch coach driver was ready to pick us up. A favorite among decades of IBIers, Ronnie drove us all over Europe for…
Deep breathing: light heart & heavy faith
*Originally posted in January 2018 as a guest contributor for Why I Stopped Why I stopped letting fear suffocate me: I have always had a fanciful imagination. I have also always allowed fear to dwell too long in my heart and mind. Fortunately, the scenarios I dreamt up were just amalgamations of the thrilling bits of…
Russia | 2011
From the Hill of Crosses in Lithuania, we traveled by bus to Riga, Latvia. After filling up at an unappetizing buffet (think the Golden Corral), we boarded a train to travel overnight to Moscow, Russia. Before leaving Latvia, we were drilled by our professors that there would be multiple checkpoints along the journey where our…
The best worst decision of my life
Last October, a marathon happened to me. As ridiculous as that statement is, it is also incredibly accurate. In March 2017, I felt compelled to sign up for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon as a charity runner with Team World Vision. Everything about fundraising for an amazing organization sounded wonderful. Everything about running any…
International Business Institute
International Business Institute The summer after my sophomore year of college I joined 43 other university students on an academic journey around the world. Representing 10 different schools, we spent our time completing four upper division college courses, touring a variety of multinational company headquarters, visiting governmental agencies & embassies, and exploring some of the…
Dominican Republic
Some of the most rewarding travel experiences thus far in my life have been the repeat trips to the Dominican Republic. For two years, at six-month intervals, I flew out to Pennsylvania to join a church volunteer group to travel to Rancho Arriba, a small village tucked into a valley of one of the south-central…
Redeeming the busy life
So far, the twenties decade of life seems to be one of daily self-therapy sessions. It must also be the decade of the sad cycle of the recognition, resolution, and then eventual casting away of good intentions to make positive changes. Recently, I was perched on the kitchen counter, eating a meager dinner of yogurt…
Redefining Enough
I grew up in a home where there was always plenty. Plenty of snacks, games, movies, craft materials, pillows & blankets, love, encouragement, honesty, and trust. That does not mean that money and good temperaments were always in abundance. I certainly did not receive everything I wanted on demand. There were many occasions that my…
Improve. Expand. Grow.
Tedium and repetition are the single-handed killers of my dreams and productivity. There are many times that I have yielded to boredom and let monotony run my life. Call it “The Curse of the Digital Age” or “The Millenial Struggle of Indifference”; there is an epidemic of apathy, especially in modern young adults, to strive…
L.M.Beatty 