A loVe Letter GoodBye. A scatter brain full of thoughts

10/9/16 1:21pm

A loVe Letter GoodBye. A scatter brain full of thoughts

Studying abroad MAY be the single greatest thing I have ever done in my entire life. No. It HAS been one of the best things that have happened to me in my 20 years of life. Wow. Now, I am not exaggerating, trying to create a cliché of a blog. I truly mean it. Why. It has turned around my way of thinking not only about our world, but my personal introspective world: my mind and my outlook on life and my social self.

So this is a love letter to everyone who has made this possible, my parents Sincy Mathew& Mathew Kaduthodil Simon, my IES Abroad crew (awesome group of kids to say the LEAST), Anita  (best IES Abroad staff this program will meet), my host mom Marcia (a very sweet and kind lady, always concerned  about you), two or three friends from back home that actually cared enough to check up on me (your love is much appreciated, you know who you are), and last but not least GOD (he knows a thing or to I guess).

Life is a bit clearer when you stop and take a break from killing yourself staring into a $300 science textbook for 3 and a ½ years straight. “I WAS LOOSING MY MIND LOOSING MY MIND, I WAS OUT OF CONTORL”-yOUGH the Giant (NOT JUST BECAUSE OF THE BOOKS but everthing else happening to me at the time). Thanks to the endless walks at night, waiting endlessly for buses that seem never to be frequent at night, sitting in solitude and experiencing coming down from the highs after adventure trips to parts like Atacama&Chiloe and just thinking about stuff and conversing with people like Tyler, Niko, Emily, Elaine, Michal, Langley (just to name a few…there are 18 kidz in our program so can’t name em all) and Martin (best Chilean friend out there) is more than enough to realize what you want out of life or where you are going with it.

 This break from normality stopped me from breaking myself psychologically. It has changed me for the better. It has changed me in ways I do not even know (Yet). It has taught me to value and appreciate my dad more. It has taught me the necessity for better health care in our world. It has solidified my career choice in medicine (something that I struggled with for an entire year, on a everyday basis). It has allowed for me to realize that just because I am pursuing a career in medicine, I DO NOT have to give up my passion as an artist. That I can, and WILL do both medicine and photography. Why not? Why not? Yes. I will do both, whether I succeed as an artist or not, I will continue and stick with it. I will get through PA school. These are the affirmations that this break has allowed for me to realize. It has also taught me how much I don’t know. About people, life, medicine and photography. It has taught me to slow down a bit. That its ok to take your time: anywhere from doing work to relationships to friendships. It’s better to think things through and rather than just rushing into it (sometimes). It has taught me the value of patience (very very very very important this concept is).

I came into this program as a grown man in a rushed manner (thanks to the flight issues); and through the course of time I relearned to become a child. An absolute child. A child with full blown facial hair that makes a constant fool of himself. But that’s ok. Because children are curious. They are excited for this world. They see things differently and appreciate things that adults would dismiss in a heartbeat.  By being a child, I realize what I need to do as an adult.

Thanks to this blog opportunity, I’ve learned how to better open up to myself. Realized that I like to write (even if it’s abrupt, un-orthodox, and informal).  

So yea, break from the routine has been one of the best things that have happened to me in 20 years.

Friendships: Something that has been hard for me my entire life. Contently traveling made this very hard for me growing up. Living with an awesome group of kids in this program gave me the perfect opportunity to from an abundance of memories though friendships that will surely last a life time to come. Thank you for the amazing experiences during our time in Santiago and the breathtaking parts of Chile we have visited together.  

P.S you see the date on top? Yup, a lot of these thoughts appeared half way through this Chilean adventure. I ended up flushing out these thoughts upon my return to the states.