Darley of 2014-15 was a tough but fair grader. My assignments for class would come back full of red marker, and I thought it would never end. Now, more than ten years later, I am grateful for her constructive criticisms. This is a friendly reminder to listen to your teacher, because she knows a thing or two!
I encourage all of you to take the opportunity to travel, both inside and outside the United States if you can. Travel makes us pay more attention to our surroundings, as everything is exciting and interesting in a new place. I have become much more introspective while surrounded by a new culture, as it has forced me to pay attention to every day details to which I would never would pay attention in the States. For instance, in Paraguay, hora Paraguya refers to an event starting later than agreed upon, due to people arriving late. In the United States, an event almost always start smore or less on time, even social events, and people who are late experience guilt and shame from those around them. Here, people can arrive late, and they don’t seem particularly guilty or ashamed of it. This is a product of living in a smaller community, where the people are not in as much of a hurry and tend not to book their schedules with a myriad of events. The result is people living more in the moment, and in tune with the day, rather than living in tune with a clock and their calendar. This is an aspect of American culture I don’t particularly like, and I have found myself feeling more at home here. Another aspect I really enjoy about living here versus the States is the hospitality of people in their homes and the friendliness of people on the streets.
