I'm taking this prompt a bit differently than one would expect. First of all, I can't pick one thing, and second of all, the things I'm going to be writing about weren't told to me verbally; they were told to me through the written word, and I have access to them whenever I want.
Ever since the beginning of 2013, I've kept a separate journal for the friends I meet on my travels to write me a message for me to read on the plane ride "home" (wherever that is). The first notebook was from my time as an exchange student, and I had my exchange friends, host families, teachers, school friends, and many more people I met throughout my exchange leave me a message. There's something really personal about handwritten messages. It's like you have a recording of these people's voices, but a visual recording. Even after my exchange, I had people traveling briefly my way and people I met on other trips sign it. After the first notebook was filled, I got a second one in Kraków, and had my friends from the Polish program and from my trip to Bolivia sign it.
Needless to say, these notebooks are my most prized possession. My personal journals are one thing, but these are different in that they hold memories of people, proof that these incredible individuals' paths and mine had crossed at some point in time. Through these messages I relive certain cherished moments through the perspectives of the people I lived them with. I also get some kind of "closure" (not a fan of that word because it denotes some kind of ending, but I can't find a better one) by reading what their time with me, however brief, has meant to them. It's always hard for me to leave a place when I've developed so many relationships with the people I met there, but having these notebooks helps make leaving easier (since leaving is something I seem to do so often). Also, when life gets hard, I read through these notebooks to remember what I have accomplished in terms of my personal impact on people, and throughout my time as a college student they've helped me get out of some pretty dark places.
Anyway, here are some words that have struck me out of all the messages that have been written for me, coming from the messages I reread the most.
You don't even know how inspirational you are. I want to be exactly like you one day-funny, genuine, outgoing, open-minded, smart, thoughtful, oriented, and a great friend to everyone you meet. I can guarantee you that you are a role model for so many people.
- Aix-les-Bains (?), April 2013
You were someone who made me feel very comfortable in my first visit to the United States. You are a true friend and more like my sister.
- Cambridge, February 2015
Je ne suis pas prêt à t'oublier, je pense que ton échange fut une parfaite réussite. Ta volonté et ton entêtement t'emmèneront loin.
- Paris, June 2013
I am so impressed with your linguistic skills and with your enthusiasm for the humanities. Please count on me to be your admiring supporter in whatever you undertake!
- on the way to Athens from Aegina, Greece, March 2015
I can totes visit you at Harvard because I want to be able to tell my kids I stepped foot on that place, you know how it is.
- La Roche sur Yon, March 2013
Me acuerdo como si fuera ayer la primera vez que nos vimos à Rennes, et en ce moment-là j'ai su que t'étais super different than everybody else. J'ai vu ça et maintenant je peux dire que je me suis pas trompé, t'es très spécial.
- Cochabamba, August 2015
Your laugh is contagious and whenever I'm around you, it reminds me of how happy I can be.
- Kraków, July 2015
You are amazing. You can do literally anything and everything you put your mind to, that's extremely admirable. You are extremely intelligent, extremely honest, extremely nice, and extremely funny. You just. Sort of take life to the extreme.
- Château-du-Loir, June 2013
L'étendue de tes connaissances en langues et cultures du monde ne cesse de m'épater, poursuis dans cette voie, le monde a besoin de personnes aussi intelligents et bienveillants que toi.
- Kraków, July 2015
And finally, these words that continue to ring in my head...
Never lose that fire, that desire to change the world for good, because you are capable of it.
- Parthenay, January 2013
Apart from incredibly touching messages, the notebooks are also fuuull of invitations to see these people again in their home countries.
Will do.
Ever since the beginning of 2013, I've kept a separate journal for the friends I meet on my travels to write me a message for me to read on the plane ride "home" (wherever that is). The first notebook was from my time as an exchange student, and I had my exchange friends, host families, teachers, school friends, and many more people I met throughout my exchange leave me a message. There's something really personal about handwritten messages. It's like you have a recording of these people's voices, but a visual recording. Even after my exchange, I had people traveling briefly my way and people I met on other trips sign it. After the first notebook was filled, I got a second one in Kraków, and had my friends from the Polish program and from my trip to Bolivia sign it.
Needless to say, these notebooks are my most prized possession. My personal journals are one thing, but these are different in that they hold memories of people, proof that these incredible individuals' paths and mine had crossed at some point in time. Through these messages I relive certain cherished moments through the perspectives of the people I lived them with. I also get some kind of "closure" (not a fan of that word because it denotes some kind of ending, but I can't find a better one) by reading what their time with me, however brief, has meant to them. It's always hard for me to leave a place when I've developed so many relationships with the people I met there, but having these notebooks helps make leaving easier (since leaving is something I seem to do so often). Also, when life gets hard, I read through these notebooks to remember what I have accomplished in terms of my personal impact on people, and throughout my time as a college student they've helped me get out of some pretty dark places.
Anyway, here are some words that have struck me out of all the messages that have been written for me, coming from the messages I reread the most.
You don't even know how inspirational you are. I want to be exactly like you one day-funny, genuine, outgoing, open-minded, smart, thoughtful, oriented, and a great friend to everyone you meet. I can guarantee you that you are a role model for so many people.
- Aix-les-Bains (?), April 2013
You were someone who made me feel very comfortable in my first visit to the United States. You are a true friend and more like my sister.
- Cambridge, February 2015
Je ne suis pas prêt à t'oublier, je pense que ton échange fut une parfaite réussite. Ta volonté et ton entêtement t'emmèneront loin.
- Paris, June 2013
I am so impressed with your linguistic skills and with your enthusiasm for the humanities. Please count on me to be your admiring supporter in whatever you undertake!
- on the way to Athens from Aegina, Greece, March 2015
I can totes visit you at Harvard because I want to be able to tell my kids I stepped foot on that place, you know how it is.
- La Roche sur Yon, March 2013
Me acuerdo como si fuera ayer la primera vez que nos vimos à Rennes, et en ce moment-là j'ai su que t'étais super different than everybody else. J'ai vu ça et maintenant je peux dire que je me suis pas trompé, t'es très spécial.
- Cochabamba, August 2015
Your laugh is contagious and whenever I'm around you, it reminds me of how happy I can be.
- Kraków, July 2015
You are amazing. You can do literally anything and everything you put your mind to, that's extremely admirable. You are extremely intelligent, extremely honest, extremely nice, and extremely funny. You just. Sort of take life to the extreme.
- Château-du-Loir, June 2013
L'étendue de tes connaissances en langues et cultures du monde ne cesse de m'épater, poursuis dans cette voie, le monde a besoin de personnes aussi intelligents et bienveillants que toi.
- Kraków, July 2015
And finally, these words that continue to ring in my head...
Never lose that fire, that desire to change the world for good, because you are capable of it.
- Parthenay, January 2013
Apart from incredibly touching messages, the notebooks are also fuuull of invitations to see these people again in their home countries.
Will do.
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