I was afraid of the “real world” after graduation. Being cut-off from the parents, working non-stop, running the rat race simply to climb the corporate ladder. Was this all I was cut out for after four fabulous years at NU? Where was the adventure? Where was the un-known and the trail less traveled?
In the nerve-wracking, nail biting, indecisive throws of the senior year job search, an older theta girl told me how much fun she was having teaching English in France. So, I thought, why not live in France for my first year out? I can master the language, earn some money and have the chance to travel. Off I packed for a year in the south of France, living with a French boy, teaching 2nd-5th graders elementary English, meeting friends from all corners of the world and traveling as much as my meager salary would allow.
I would often hear about how hard and long my friends were working back in Chicago, usually while I was planning for an evening at the beach or a weekend off traveling. It is only now, after I have returned from my life in France, that I have realized, this is the real world. It is real for me; this is my life and I am living it the only way I know how- bursting with new experiences, engulfed in new places and people, basking in joy, learning the hard way from mistakes, tasting and savoring the sweetness that is gone all too quickly.
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