A ghost from the past. Except it’s not a ghost. It’s you.
In May of 2013, I took my first trip to China. Yes, I went to China before living in China, and long before my next brief trip to China this upcoming July (more details about that later). This is when “the China girl” was born, I guess–almost three years ago. Granted, I had no idea that I was the China girl back then. I was just a college freshman going on a class trip with a couple of faculty, poking at various hot pots and standing in front of ancient monuments.
I remember bits and pieces of the trip–feeling uncomfortable in big groups, being fascinated by interactions with locals, getting immensely nervous during any periods where I had to speak in front of a group of 10+ people. I was young, I was learning, and I was growing, and China served as one of the many catalysts for that growth.
About a week ago, I had a few vivid memories of that trip and I especially remembered an email I received about a month after returning back to the states. The email was from one of the professors who led our trip. Each of us 35 students received a personalized email from him describing what he noticed about us on the trip and challenging us to overcome our weaknesses as we move forward in college. I’ll spare you the long message, but here were a few highlights:
Leah, you have great potential but seem to lack self confidence. Use the leadership potential you have, I want you to really step up next year and seek out opportunities to lead, remember whenever there is a lack of leadership that creates an opportunity for you to provide it. As you reflect on the trip think about times when you could have stepped up and been more of a leader. Take the summer to think about your personal brand and spend next year developing it. Seek out feedback and mentors both in your peers, on the faculty, and in the professional community. Feedback is essential to your future success.
I remember my initial reaction to the email: hurt, offended, and a little bit demoralized. I remember my 18-year-old self struggling to accept this constructive criticism and overlooking how rare and wonderful I’ve learned honest feedback like this can be.
I think I’ll go with the theory that this letter from my professor turned out to be a letter from my former self. A letter from young, quiet Leah saying “Hey, you’ve got some work to do over your next three years in college. The opportunities are all there, you just have to seize them. But don’t worry, you’re not alone–there are people out there rooting for you. They think you can do it, almost as much as you know you can. Because guess what? You can.”
If you hadn’t guessed already, my graduation is coming up soon. And I’m about to embark on a whole new adventure in my life (including an obligatory post-grad international adventure, no less). This is going to be exciting. Stay tuned.
Leah vs. The World 