The next chapter

As many of you are aware, the family and friends who read this blog, I returned to the United States February 28th after sustaining an injury while serving in Senegal. On April 8th my service with the Peace Corps was officially ended via something called Medical Separation. Although my final exit from the Peace Corps has been a long time coming since my accident in early February, the emotions of coming back and realizing it is finally “over” had been running high and I thought it best to wait a while before blogging about it.

My time in the Peace Corps, just like my life prior to service had its share of ups and downs with some crazy and unexpected twists along the way. Peace Corps service to me was a constantly shifting experience that made it difficult to put into words any given day. I tried my best to only blog about the good times and the work, but oftentimes decided not to post an entry I had written because it was riddled with emotionally influenced content. I apologize to anyone who therefore found it to be dry reading, but I assure you there are plenty of stories still be told, and that my accident is by no means the last chapter of what the Peace Corps has given me.

One of the most common questions I have been asked by you all has been posed directly or indirectly as, “what have you taken away from your experience.” It seems like such an innocuous question to make but has caused me a number of sleepless nights. Summing up my time in Senegal with just a few comments about increased personal growth, understanding, passion, or ability to lie fluently in a foreign language in order to get out of a sticky situation would come off as trite. Therefore, rather than diving into the nitty gritty specifics of what I limped away from the Peace Corps with, I have decided to simply announce the following.

After serious deliberation while rehabbing at home in Williamsburg I have decided that in 3 weeks I am going to hit the road/buy a one way ticket to Austin Texas and start the adventure all over again. The best gamble I ever took, however off my motivations had been, was deciding to give the Peace Corps and Senegal a shot. Placing myself in a situation in which I was surrounded by languages, cultures, and people I did not initially understand allowed me to grow as an individual, and grow as a man. I realize now that staying in Williamsburg, or even the VA/DC area at this time would be a regression. I need to continue putting pressure on myself in order to see just how high my potential growth really is.

I don’t know how long my stay in Austin will be, but hope to see what the city has to offer in terms of employment, friendship, and great live music for at least 3-4 months. I few close friends of mine I have known since all the way back to the 7th grade have been working with me to hash out the details of starting up our own business, but I plan on also giving into my internal conservatism and trying to link up with a regular 9-5 suit and tie type job as well.

Of course it is possible that I don’t find what I am looking for in Austin and my dreams of owning my own start up crash and burn, but I know with 100 percent certainty that you don’t stand to win anything unless you roll the dice sometimes. With the support of my family and friends backing my decision to take this chance failure is certainly relative. Regardless of how tough it ends up being to make a go of things in Austin with only a couple thousand dollars to my name and a knack for muttering to myself in Pulaar when frustrated, at least I won’t have to ever look back and say to myself, “what if.” Taking chances in life is the only way to live one’s life fully; to live a life without regrets……. And that, is the greatest lesson I learned by being a Peace Corps Volunteer.