Kindness

Just sending a daily reminder to remember to be kind and not take things too seriously. But also find balance and don't let people walk all over you, and also know when it's important to be serious. 

I'm constantly reminded of what things should be taken less seriously in the United States. Mix those epiphanies with the sheer kindness of these fine European folk, and my mind is officially BLOWN. 

Today I talked with one of my professors, and I was a little uncertain about what I wanted to do for my paper topic, which is due in December. And everyone  else in my class seemed to have everything together and perfect. Then again, I am one of the only foreigners in the class, and this is a Master's class. 

I talked to her (my professor) after class, and she said not to worry, and that we're going to work everything out and she's going to have me do a slightly different assignment since I'm an undergrad student, and a foreigner. 

It doesn't seem like a big deal. But when you're in a room full of last year Masters students, who know exactly what the dealio is, it can be a little overwhelming when you're not entirely sure what's going on. The professor also knows English, and she could tell that I was stressed, and she was just literally so helpful and reassuring. 

In the United States I feel like professors would be like... really, you don't know what your topic is yet? And they would totally belittle you for that. Here, there's encouragement. There's help. So different. So great. 

And once again, it was a reminder, that people can be kind, and that stressing isn't really necessary in a lot of situations. 

So everybody, be kind, and don't stress.