From Here to There: My Exchange Journey

  Every journey has beginning, and sometimes it starts with a simple courtesy  call. At first, it might seem like just a small meeting. But that day, i felt so many mixed feelings. I heard so many "I'm proud of you." and that makes me emotional. A courtesy call is not just a small meeting, nor a short visit. But it's about introducing myself, building trust, and opening the door for what comes next. I realized that first impressions are not about being perfect. They are about being present, respectful, and sincere. Sometimes, just showing up with a genuine heart is already enough. There may be nervousness at the start, the overthinking, the quiet pressure to do things right. But as the conversation flows, that feeling slowly fades. What remains is a sense of relief, and even a little bit of confidence. Then, something unexpected happened. I sang Count on Me ,  together with the student teachers from SLSU-TO and it made the moment feel warm and happy. It helped break t...

Being transit is so strange. I'm not fully in one place, and not yet in another. I'm just in the middle, carrying memories from where i came from and hopes for where I'm going. Sometimes I feel like being the daughter who has to excel at everything also means becoming the distant daughter… and the absent sister. Like in order to grow, I have to leave. And in order to achieve, I have to miss moments I can never get back. It’s a quiet kind of sacrifice that no one really talks about. But Mama always reminds me of something. She tells me to live fully. To give fully. To experience life fully. And I hold on to that. Because deep down, I know she understands that this distance is not me choosing to love less but it’s me choosing to become more. Because no one is going to hand me my dreams. And no one is going to build the life I want for me. It has to be me. So even when it feels heavy, even when I miss home in ways I can’t explain, I remind myself: this is part of the journey. ...