Expectation

Expectation. Nothing can make or break an experience like it. Set "the bar" too high and the recipe is more than likely set for disappointment - while setting "the bar" too low has potential to grow anxiety like yeast in warm sugar water and low confidence becomes a building ground for again - disappointment.

I have been in Germany for a while now. We are on day 3 of our itinerary and before coming to Munich I was in Lutherstadt-Wittenberg for 3 nights soaking up the history of the Reformers and gathering up the courage to - Sprechen ein bissen Deutch :-) While there, I was able to speak with a few Germans in depth (and in English!) about their experiences with the migrant/refugee crisis. Two themes I heard was:

  1.  Why is the United States not doing more to help the world with these humanitarian crises? 
  2.  It was/is not a crisis but rather the situation was dramatized by the news media. And, the majority of Germans were/are glad to help for varying [personal] reasons. 

My expectation for this service-learning study abroad course was altered after having these conversations. I was moved from "overachieving American bringing a laundry list of questions to find answers" to "focusing on the journey - opening myself to a more pure form of curiosity - breathing deeply when questions are unanswered and silence rules the discussion". Meeting expectation at this place relieves me of guilt which often for me is a daunting sadness which then much of the time overwhelms the moment's experience...and ruins it. The populations I hope to help with the knowledge gained during this trip have experienced enough of those things - they (and I) deserve a more hopeful outlook on moving forward through the politics to live the best lives possible. Like the Germans - happy to help for my own varying [personal] reasons.

 Mind + Heart + Service + Journey + Experience 


This image is from a short visit I had in Reykjavik, Iceland - I was struck by the perfect timing of the image. It captures the moment when both the Stop & Walk icons are lit (I was taking the picture because I thought the waiting image was amusing) - and it speaks to me of "perfect timing". We often say there is no such thing - when there is - as this snapshot of a moment when I was waiting to cross the street shows. A caveat of the lesson I took away from it, is the perfect moments are the ones where we are fully living and won't be able to appreciate until we are reflecting - or clicking through the images we took of the day. From my position of privilege does this mean knowing when to flee civil war and place complete faith in a foreign country - or - knowing when to leave your family for a couple weeks to experience a service learning project in Germany? Probably both. 
What does it mean for you?  

Sara Love
Master's of Social Work & Public Health Student - NMSU

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