Today marks a month since my return home from Tanzania. I’ve been meaning to share my reflections, as I have wrote them to speak with myself, but this introspection that I repeatedly have seems to be endless. It’s so hard to grasp every aspect of this journey in one conversation, and even harder to simply be able to put it into words. I have never learned so much in my life about the world outside of the one I’ve lived in and about myself, like I did during my time in Tanzania. This journey was truly a humbling and eye-opening experience; I feel like I have transformed into a different person, as I pay more attention to the way I have lived my life and the way I wish to live it. As Dr. Reese said, a fish cannot discover water until it leaves it, and by leaving home and traveling to a new country, continent, hemisphere, I had the chance to discover what is important in my life and what isn’t. While I was away from home, in a different environment and surrounded by a beautiful community, feeling the most joyful I have ever felt, I realized how much I was dreading my return home…I missed my family, of course, but I did not miss much else about my life back home. I was experiencing an abundance of happiness in Tanzania; I gained so much strength, encouragement, love, genuine happiness… experiences that added substance and worth to my life, which at the same time made a lot of things in my life seem insignificant. It all felt so overwhelming—the thought of returning home, to my job, useless past times, social networks, consumerism, superficial relationships… having to deal with a way of life that I no longer wished to live. I felt so impatient, disillusioned, weighed down…but that overwhelming feeling made me realize that I had experienced meaning in my life, and I was not going to return home and abide to a life without it. I am new, and I have rid myself of all that I’ve been meaning to, and have surrounded myself with love and possibilities. I feel so blessed…and it is all thanks to the quality of the time I spent in Tanzania, with heartwarming, humble individuals, who’s life was so beautifully simple because their sole purpose was to survive—it was the epitome of what makes a beautiful struggle. And in a sense, it’s the way we should all be living—rooted to the Earth, coexisting with the environment: land, animals, family, comm(Unity)… nothing else. Now that I contemplate on what my goals and priorities are, I feel fulfilled to have learned more about myself, as well as what my dreams and aspirations have transformed into. In a sense, I feel reborn. Every second of the time I spent in Tanzania was significant…it gave me so much that I just want to give as much of it back. I feel like I purposely left a piece of my heart out there just so I could return one day and feel whole again. I want to travel the world, not only to continue to find myself, but to give my time and genuine help to others, in hopes of making as much of a difference in someone’s life like Tanzania has made in mine. I have an endless list of goals I wish to achieve, and I have this journey and Dr. Reese to thank for. I just want to find that feeling I felt while I was in Tanzania; I want to be in a humble environment and surround myself with beautiful people. My soul felt so happy during this journey. I just want my soul to feel that happy forever.