How I've Changed During Peace Corps

People ask me a lot about how I've changed throughout my Peace Corps experience.  I always tell them it's not over yet, and also that I think it'll take being back home for a little while to fully grasp all the ways I've grown over the past two years.

That being said, I have recognized a few qualities in myself I hope I can hang onto: Patience, Optimism, and Perseverance.  I like to think that I had each of these before I came to Romania, but my experience in the Peace Corps has magnified and multiplied them.  Take today for instance.  I had yet another flood in my apartment, my neighbors were screaming at me in Romanian, and my landlady decided to terminate the contract that allowed me to live in my apartment.

Needless to say, it has not been the best of days; however, after a few moments of being negative and defeated I quickly searched for the good in the situation.  It's so easy to be cynical and focus on the bad...you'll always be able to find something wrong or difficult in any situation, but there is also always something good that can come out of it as well.  I'm no longer the girl that used to shy away from confrontation anymore...to quotes Chris Matthews from MSNBC about his own Peace Corps experience, "...I've never been as of afraid of anything again."  That's kind of how I feel about life now...after this experience and always with the help of God; there is no situation that I cannot face head on after living the past 2 years as a Peace Corps volunteer.  I came into my Peace Corps service in Romania scared to death about all the things I don't know about this world; I'm leaving it with a curiosity and desire to seek out the very moments that terrified me before.  I'm sure I'll get to have a lot more chats about this later so I'll leave it at that.

It's going to be a struggle to find a new place to live, but thankfully I have lots of people that care about me who will help.  This situation will not kill me, and it is full of lessons that I probably needed to learn how to handle better anyway.  Finally, there are people all over the world who don't have a place to live at all...my struggle does not compare to theirs.