Throughout my time as an International Scholar, I have seen myself grow in many avenues of life. For starters, my international experiences helped me to expand my ability to speak in a foreign language. I would not be where I am today in my Spanish speaking capabilities had I not spent those 10 weeks in Madrid, Spain. As well, not only have I developed more diverse friendships and social networks across the globe, but now have a desire to continue to foster those relationships and expand on more international connections. This is not only to maintain current friendship, but also to continue to learn about other cultures even when I am not traveling. I now I have friends that live all across the globe, Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada, Mexico, Australia, etc... And while I may not get to see those friends very often, our relationships continue to teach me new aspects of other cultures from social norms and our occasional face times. But even more importantly, my international experiences have taught me about my own strengths and weaknesses. Like I mentioned in a blog post in the Global Experiences section, when faced with scenarios of constant dopamine stimulation, I easily find myself unbalanced in life. I lose a sense of priority with my obligations and focus on solely seeking out activities that provide immediate satisfaction and dopamine. While this was a weakness that I identified, it has helped me to change my behaviors and habits since returning back to my home university. I also learned a new strength about myself throughout my travels, which is an unrelenting courage to put myself in challenging situations. From running marathons and Ironmans to trying new foods and crazy excursions, I know now that not only can I take on challenge in my way, but I also quite enjoy pushing myself to the limit.

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        I think one aspect that is worth discussing is how I have changed over these past 4 years within the International Scholar Program. In terms of my travel preferences, I think at the start of my global experiences when I was in Madrid, I spent more money on accommodations and travel requirements. But by the end of my travels in the program this past fall in Sydney, I was more frugal with expenditures for accommodations and travel and spent more on experiences and excursions. For example, while on a roadtrip with my buddy on the eastern coast of Australia, in order to save some money before spending a day of excursions on an island of ship wrecks, we slept in our rental car underneath a bridge. Whereas previously I may have been more inclined to Airbnb with some friends while traveling, by the end, hostel hopping was all I knew. It went so far as to sleeping on floor mats in one hostel while travel around Malaysia. Interestingly enough, my academic pursuits have also changed since beginning the program. Initially I was very determined on the medical track, but through my travels I have found my way through software engineering, into IT and life science consulting. Now I hope to convert my consulting experiences with variety of clients into international consulting with a focus on cross cultural business. This is mainly due to my love for learning new cultures that I have developed over these last 4 years in the program. 

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        So as I wrap up my time here at UF and with ISP, my biggest takeaway is to appreciate every opportunity that comes your way, even the littlest of joys in life are worth every penny. I know I saw this first hand while traveling in different cultures. One place this was very apparent was in Japan. While on a temple hike up the side of a mountain, every individual that we passed gave a head nod and said "konnichiwa". They may not have known it at that time, but every "hello" brought a smile to my face even though it was simply in passing. Another example appreciating every moment in life was at the top of Mount Batur in Bali, Indonesia when a woman selling handmade bracelets approach our group. We all bought bracelets and took a photo with her, but what really made her day was when she got tell us about her bracelet making company. She told us all about the process and where she finds the beads, rocks, and gems and you could see she was truly grateful for the opportunities she had in life. So my final piece of advice I could give is to be kind to everyone you meet, you never know what they may be going through. It is truly remarkable the power of the kindness of a stranger. When we came back to our hostel in Uluwatu, Indonesia red as tomatoes, covered in sunburns, a very generous woman stopped our group and cut a leaf off of a nearby plant. She split it open and scraped off a clear, sticky gel substance and asked if she could put it on our sunburns. That leaf we'd come to find out was an aloe vera plant. So from the simplest of gestures, a nod or hello, to the deepest of life conversations, everyone wants to be heard. The best thing you can ever do in life, is simply listen.