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| Claire Gothard Class of 2019 |
The bliss that I found – in a place that was supposed to at least take me out of my comfort zone, if not completely terrify me – was frequent and intense enough I almost have to classify the experience as a sort of enlightenment. Enlightenment of the “the main character realizes that the answer was right in front of them the entire time” variety. Many people experience tremendous personal growth when the travel abroad; I didn’t find myself, but more settled in.
My entire six week stay in Morocco was coordinated by others, it was my job to just show up and participate – a task seemed more foreign to me than the language or customs of this new country. This was my chance to experience and live in the moment rather than over plan, over schedule, or over stress. I was able to take an entire break for myself rather than for my resume, character development, or community. It was a selfish summer by design, but it only strengthened and solidified my compassion and ambition.
The Moroccan people are as warm and welcoming to strangers as Americans are to old friends: there was constant conversation, catching up, long greetings, and invitations to dinner. For an introvert, these continual social interactions were taxing and left no room for overthinking nor revision. Each action was instinctual by necessity. I had the freedom to truly experience my time there, and the aforementioned blissful moments always came at the end of a chaotic day. I felt it after hiking through the mountains, touring a crowded city center while holding hands with my friends like a kindergarten class trying not to get lost, practicing formal greetings with seven-year-old girls who get excited when they see a real English speaker, and even orchestrating a Fourth of July cookout for my language school.
The beauty in taking time to be selfish by doing whatever feels natural is that I was able to very explicitly explain my habits. I love the mountains, I fangirl over old art, I can’t say no to kids, and I thrive in chaotic situations, especially when they involve cake and guacamole. I knew these parts of me individually, but they hadn’t manifested themselves too obviously until I was half a world away, engulfed in a culture that became my own. Immersing myself in the compassion and joy of others enabled me to identify my natural affinity for it. The amount of relationships I built, language I learned, and culture I adopted proved to me that employing my natural dispositions could lead me to success and happiness.
Claire Gothard is a freshman McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville. She studies political science and Arabic.