I have been asked that question probably a million times, and I'm going
to be honest: there is no Reason. Oh, there were a million reasons why I chose
AmSam: I wanted to go abroad for at least a year (but the Peace Corps 26 months
seemed daunting), I wanted to work with youth, I didn't want to live in the
middle of nowhere all by myself (and WorldTeach promised roommates aka NEW BEST
FRIENDS), I wanted to go somewhere I’d probably never get the chance to go
otherwise (and the South Pacific definitely qualified), and, after I had
decided on WorldTeach, the American Samoa program was fully funded (and I was a
broke college grad). Those are all reasons, and decent ones… but they’re not a
Reason. There was just something inside me that told me it was what I needed to
do; maybe I’d feel the same way if I was in Tanzania or Costa Rica right now,
but I guess I’ll never know.
Anyway. When I give people the above reasons, they’re never quite
satisfied. So I have another story.
Way back when I first started looking into WorldTeach, my friend
Melodious and I were clicking through programs on the website and we got to the
AmSam main page and saw this:
And I thought, man. Those kids are cute. I can see myself teaching kids
like that. So I put AmSam on the list, and as the list got shorter and shorter,
Samoa moved farther and farther up. So, I’m not gonna say I moved here
because I saw a picture of cute kids. But, I mean, maybe a little bit?
The cutest part of this story though: the kid in the front? His name is
Nainoa. He’s my neighbor. And it’s his 9th birthday today.
Happy birthday, Nainoa! Thanks for being so adorable! If not for you, I
might be in China right now. That's why I always try to remember... everything happens for a reason.
No, you would not be in China. We agreed...never live in China.
ReplyDeleteHm... Ok, you're definitely right. Not China!
ReplyDelete