Dream Big

I've been saying these words for a while now, but I think it is just barely starting to set in: I am almost done with my time here in Colombia.  In fact, I just booked my one-way ticket back to the states for May 1st.  Wowie.

On one hand, I am so excited for what's to come:  I will be spending June and July in the Mississippi Delta as a School Director with TFA's Summer Institute.  Amazing.  The Delta is just about as foreign to me as Colombia was and I cannot wait to fully immerse myself in this new world.  I've already met some of my incredible school team and am honored to be surrounded by energetic, passionate, talented people this summer.

After the Delta adventure, I will be returning to my home town of Denver, Colorado to be starting as an Assistant Principal with Lake middle school, which is part of the West Denver Prep charter network.  As many of you know, this opportunity is practically a dream come true and I could not be more grateful and excited to begin this work.

On the other hand, I am sad beyond words to be leaving Colombia.  Colombia represents a dream come true for me.  The dream, for many years of my life, was to live in a Latin American country, not as a tourist, but as somebody who pays bills and rent there, works there, goes to the gym there, shops locally, establishes friends there, learns the city by heart, becomes fluent in Spanish there, experiences the good, the bad and the ugly of living there...and this past year in Colombia has given me that dream.  These days, I get teary-eyed almost every time I think about my year here and how sad I am that it is almost over.

Speaking of dreams...I've decided that it is worth it to dream.  And to dream really, really big.  In fact, I think it is the process of dreaming and scheming that keeps me fully alive as a human.  I think that many of us- and I too have experienced this temptation- cut this process off at the fear of failing to realize our dreams.  I'm ok with the reality that not all dreams come true.  I recently told my friend, Melissa that if I actually do 30% of the things I dream about and say I want to do, that will be a damn good life.

There are so many things that I wanted to do in Colombia that I just won't be able to do, and that's ok.  In the wise words of Dr. Seuss, "don't cry because it's over.  Smile because it happened." I'm not going to dwell on the things I didn't do; instead I'm going to live with a grateful heart in regards to the beautiful people I've met, the love I've experienced, the adventures I've had, the memories that are now a part of my story.

That's all I've got right now; a message of gratitude, sadness, sentiment, excitement and hope for what's to come.  And to just say, dream big, friends.  It will be worth it, I promise.