I’ll be honest, before coming here I wasn’t thinking of this trip in terms of what I wanted to accomplish. There were definitely things I was looking forward to experiencing and learning, but I hadn’t set any goals for myself in the traditional way, meaning trying to accomplish realistic, tangible objectives in a time-oriented manner. After spending a week here, I can’t say that my approach has changed much. I don’t want to set too many expectations for this term, as I want to take in all that I can without having the shadow of what I thought was going to be influencing my enjoyment of all that happens. My goals for myself personally, academically, and professionally are still rather malleable, but I’ll do my best to describe them below.

Personally, I’ve hoped to get more experience handling myself and problem solving in unknown situations, which I’ve had to do plenty of times so far. Trying to navigate my way around a foreign country without any cell phone service before I got a new sim card was a fun challenge, although I might only have that perspective since nothing bad happened. I had to stay at a cafe with wifi until I was absolutely sure where I was going, how I was getting there, and when I would have access to the internet again to scope out the next part of my journey. That was just one experience in my time so far, and I think that I will have plenty more like it before I come back to the United States. I’m hoping that the troubles I encounter trying to make my way through this next month will help me maintain my cool in stressful situations in the future, not only traveling, but everywhere I find myself in a situation where I’m unfamiliar with my circumstances and can’t see an easy way out.

At the most basic level my academic goal is to pass these classes, but deeper down I’m hoping that my academic experiences on this trip will inform my professional aspirations if everything goes according to plan. I will be entering the workforce soon enough, and I think that a career working with sustainable energy could be in the cards for me. I’m hoping that these classes that I am taking will either confirm or deny whether I am interested enough in this field to pursue it professionally and whether I have the capacity to do so.