Hello everyone, My name is Jada and I’m a third-year student who has recently finished a work placement in France as an English language assistant. Now, I wanted to address a season of life where I had to adjust to living in the unknown as a foreigner and a novice. I’m writing this blog to inform and encourage those who may be stepping into a season of discomfort and unfamiliarity. It has been a period of transition and transformation for me where growth and maturity have been birthed and I want to share three steps to adjusting to living in the unknown.
The first step is unravelling fear…
Fear can be defined as an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain or harm. It can be the likelihood of something unwelcome happening or someone avoiding to do something because one is afraid. Before I embarked on my journey to travel and live in the centre of France where no one knew me or no one I knew was coming with me, I was bottled up with fear. The fear of the unknown, the fear of leaving my friends and family behind just as I had lost a grandparent and my expectations being built on other people’s experiences, pictures and my imagination. I had constant questions such as “How am I going to live in a foreign place?” and “How am I going to teach these kids who barely spoke English?”. There were constant thoughts of inadequacy and worry that didn’t need to flood my mind. Fear was becoming a negative driving force that stopped me from thinking positively and tried to disconnect me from the life-changing opportunity that was ahead of me. Fear can creep up in the smallest of things through travelling; thinking you don’t have enough luggage space, worrying about your passport or transportation. These things were essential and wanted to bring some frustration but I’ve learnt that moving to a new place requires patience, daily progression and consistency. Fear can stagnate us from doing the smallest things that have the biggest impact but it is an emotion that must be defeated as you enter into a new season of change. Therefore, how did I unravel fear? After my dad and I travelled to this new city called Bourges, with hardly any transportation and the majority of people not knowing English but French, we could tell that this was a brand-new territory where I would have to quickly adjust. My fear started to decrease as strangers started to ask where we were going and if we needed help. These small encounters with strangers, locals and new teachers who worked at the college that I was assigned to, showed me that there was nothing to worry about. There were people with open arms, love and a sense of warmth that were there to help me and welcome me into my new home. They were able to direct my next steps and lead me to become comfortable in the unknown. They helped me to become familiar with the city that I was in by teaching me about transportation, shops, bank accounts and phone contracts. The dominant emotion of fear began to fade away and hope was exchanged little by little every day.
The next step is to become comfortable in the unknown…
The process of change can bring a state of discomfort whether we appreciate it or not. It’s important to realise that a new season of change brings a lack of self-control since unpredictable circumstances happen and we must know how to embrace it. Becoming comfortable in the unknown looked like me finding out that my apartment would be on the fourth floor with many stairs and no lift. I’ve needed help in public and all I had to do was open my mouth instead of staying silent however you can often decide to stay silent due to the fear of being misunderstood but I’ve learnt that comfort is birthed when you do the things that you’re scared of and overcome the fear of not trying. Another experience of discomfort that I had was the feeling of inadequacy. I started to worry about the type of students I would be assigned and whether I could handle three hundred students weekly. Despite the thoughts and feeling overwhelmed, every mountain of fear and discomfort disappeared when I launched myself into the situation that I was the most scared of.
The last step, embrace growth…
Growth can be defined as the process of increasing in size and the process of developing physically, mentally and spiritually. Although I felt confined and overwhelmed by the fast progression and new experiences that I was encountering, I was truly increasing in knowledge, culture and the desire to see students succeed. My faith in God was also increasing as I had to trust in the process of discovering myself in the unknown and not knowing what tomorrow would bring. I would journal, pray and sing melodies of praise just so I could reflect and encourage myself with joy and hope. I had to constantly move forward even while discovering new locations, new friends and developing a new routine. There was a new foundation of growth that was evolving and there was no possibility to stay stagnant but to flow in every situation with adaptability and open-mindedness. My advice to anyone that is about to step into a new journey where you are not in full control, I would say to make room to grow in the unknown and know that every single thing shall fall into place despite the fear, the discomfort or the uncertainty of the future.
#Adjusting #living #unknown #navigating #season #life #travel #work
