Finding peace in the whirlwind that is leaving your home to study in another hemisphere can feel impossible at times. Constantly putting yourself out there to meet new people, picking up on local languages, and trying to make the most out of the opportunity you have as a young person in a new country for a limited time can create more mental and social exhaustion than you may have anticipated. This tiring feeling can intensify when you are worlds away from the friendships and circles of support you’ve built for the past two or three years of college. In the midst of all of this, I’ve realized that prioritizing peace and maintaining a strong sense of self is essential to my success in any context—cultural or otherwise.
The Jesuit value and practice of consistent self-reflection is one of the greatest tools I've gained from my time at Georgetown. Spending my time abroad in South Africa without any space that feels quite like home has forced me to consider who I am and how I relate to others when the social paradigms and blueprints have been shifted away from what I’ve known all my life. One of the biggest takeaways from my reflections here is that I am deserving of meaningful self-care. I’ve rarely ever been hesitant to treat myself to a nice face mask, a gallon of Ben & Jerry’s, or a day of ignoring my responsibilities in bed. However, I’ve now become more intimately aware of the hard work that comes along with caring for yourself in the absence of your loved ones.
A few weeks ago I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, "The Read," and heard an amazing piece of advice that’s been swirling in my head ever since. The podcast host, Crissle West, passed along her therapist’s guide to “treat your mental health and wellness as if you were taking care of a six-year-old child.” This can look like extending compassion or giving yourself a much needed break, but it can also look like putting yourself in a proverbial “time out” when you fail to manage your responsibilities in a way that would create the best life for yourself and those you care for.
This period of my life is now marked by the decision to recommit myself to caring for my wellness in a way that includes the self-indulgent as well as those things that create a strong sense of discipline. Integrating practices like meditation, daily journaling, and honoring the educational and professional deadlines that I create for myself has facilitated the creation of a life that I don’t feel the need to constantly escape from. I’m so deeply appreciative of having the opportunity to step back from the hustle and bustle. In doing so, I've gained a much deeper understanding of this responsibility I have to myself. I can’t wait to see how these self-care practices inform the learning experiences and successes I’m bound to meet in my final year at Georgetown.
Taylor Davis (NHS'20) majored in health care management and policy and minored in disability studies. Davis studied at the University of Western Cape in Cape Town, South Africa in spring 2019 and took part in the Junior Year Abroad Network.
