This week and a half has been a bit of a whirlwind, filled with pages-on-pages of readings, long and glorious runs, endless CV and cover letter drafting (and re-drafting), nights out on the town, hosting visitors (my let’s-call-him-a-cousin-because-it’s-too-complicated-to-explain-how-we’re-actually-connected), and preparing for Halloween (which by the way, is not an authentically American tradition; its roots originate not far from here in Ireland, Scotland and Wales).
Instead of going in chronological order, I’m going to work my way backwards through the week starting with the events freshest in my memory!
Last night I went on my second Itchy Feet pub crawl, this time through the London borough of Islington. For those of you who need some reminding, Itchy Feet is the traveling society at LSE. As usual, ’twas a jolly good time and I’m beginning to get the sense this is largely due to the member composition – an eclectic group of people with a shared interest in experiencing the wonders of travel by foot, tube, train, plane, etc.
Last night’s pub crawl also coincided with my 1-month-aversary in London, hence my decision to venture out into the world on a weekday night. But there was far more to celebrate than my being in London for one month. After revising my CV and cover letters (thank you Dad!), submitting job applications, attending training sessions/interviews, I finally heard back from three organisations to which I had applied for paid/or unpaid leadership positions. I was selected as Show Director for the LSE Dance Society and Mentor for Widening Participation and DebateMate (both of which are organisations who work closely with school-aged children to raise aspirations). I’m still waiting to hear back from a few other programs and will update you as soon as I do!
This past Sunday I went on a cathartic run to Regent’s Park and around its outer circle. Perhaps it was the beautiful weather, or the fact that Sundays are my favourite day of the week, or that there were adorable children and their parents wandering around the park’s zoo, but it was one of those runs where even reminiscing on it now fills me with satisfaction and brings soulful tears of joy to my eyes.
On Saturday I went on a run, this time looping around Battersea park and ending up in Sloane Square, near where my very own Maman lived and worked thirty years ago. When I finished my run I couldn’t help but feel a sense of homecoming, retracing the steps my mother had once taken- for a moment, it truly felt like I belonged nowhere else but here, in London.
And now for some further musings on belonging…
During my night out in Islington I found myself in the midst of a conversation with a new friend, Connor. He asked me how I was settling into London and I responded with overwhelming jumble of thoughts, which went something like:
“Frankly the process of settling in a new land requires a great effort. Not only am I adjusting to a new university system, but I’m also making new friends, living in another country, experiencing a lot of feelings and sensations for the very first time. I’m beginning to feel at home here… it’s just a matter of cultivating my new friendships, emotions, and perceptions while also continuing to function and excel academically and extracurricularly.”
As if some potent force of the universe had intentionally placed Connor in my life in this pivotal conversation, he replied with something along the lines of:
“I actually believe personal development activities are as equally important as excelling academically.”
He put things in far more eloquent terms, but that is neither here nor there. What matters is that in his genuine response to my experiences, I found someone who understood that being human is a collective and embodied experience; it is the sum of unique events and our reflections on their significance that contribute to who and what we are. While I identify strongly with the rigour I bring to my schoolwork, professional life, civic engagement, and aspirations of becoming a surgeon, I am also much more than that. I am complicated like I suppose we all are. I have my faults, worries, dreams, fears, and desires like I suppose we all do.
I’ve discovered that in moving to London I’ve been forced to create space for self-discovery in ways that I wasn’t usually open to before. I think this may be why I have returned to dancing and writing as expressive mediums. Slowly, but surely, I am scratching the surface of the lifelong journey of coming to understand a more complete and complex version of myself.
‘Tis all for now dear friends and family, next time I’ll have some wonderful stories to tell you about Madrid.