En resumen...

Now that I have been home for over a month and a half, created a new blog and most importantly started a new job, I feel like the transition period has ended and it's sadly time to say adios, or rather, hasta luego, to "An Offshore Account..."

Towards the end of my stay in Spain my friends and I talked a lot about the past year, what we've learned, what we'll miss, and what the future has in store for us after this. The last night we were all together we did something kind of high school- we made superlatives- I ended up with "Most likely to be successful" and "Most likely to be on 'The Real Housewives of New York'"...thoughts?? Even though I have been home for a little while now it's really hard for me to "draw a conclusion" from this past year. So far it's hard to just sum it up in one all encompassing sentence.

It is one of the scariest, most fascinating and "amazing" things for me to look back on things I have done and picture my reaction if I had told myself before they happened, that they were going to happen the way they did- I would have said, no way. Particular things that stand out- in my life- playing at Nationals for my soccer team in high school, getting in early to Vanderbilt, moving to Spain to teach English for 9 months, sleeping in a desert oasis in the Sahara, and starting my career in New York at Lord Abbett.

You never know where your job will take you, what new person you will meet, what friends you will get closer to and the ones that will drift away. So it's great to plan and be organzied and have goals and dreams, but there is nothing like looking back and seeing how things actually played out.

My year in Spain was exciting, challenging, stimulating, and revitalizing, and many times annoying, depressing, lonely and frustrating. Despite the rough patches, I am so happy that I took the risk I did. If anything, I think it gave me an interesting story to tell in my interviews this past month and a half and maybe even helped to secure my current position. So while I cannot give a quick concise reflection of what this year has really meant to me ,here are a few very important pieces of advice that I have to offer based on my experiences from this past year:

Take a risk and do it with confidence. Do something outside of your comfort zone, something you know will be a challenge. Once you tackle one small hurdle, life's biggest problems and challenges won’t seem as big and scary anymore and you will feel so proud of yourself looking back on the experience. And when you do this, smile, be confident, its the hottest look around.

Have patience. Being impatient is just going to make you frustrated and unpleasant to be around. When the going gets tough just say as the Spanish say, “no pasa nada.” There is no need to rush through life. Another train always comes.

Aprovecha. Maybe you are young, maybe you are old, either way take advantage of the opportunities around you. Don’t be complacent and lazy. We live in a world with so many opportunities to learn and grow and not taking advantage of them and having an interesting story to tell is going to make you a really boring guest at a cocktail party.

Love yourself. No matter how supportive your family, friends and significant other are, you are ultimately the only person that will always be there for yourself. Let people into your life, but make sure that you can always make yourself the happiest. So do things that make you feel good and positive about who you are- find passions and activities that get your adrenaline pumping and discover your purpose in life.

You can learn from everyone. There is not one person in this world that can't teach you something, whether it's from your professor or parent who is supposed to teach you, or your 5yr old student who you are supposed to be teaching, or a homeless person who seemingly has no education at all. Listen to everyone and take note of everything you hear.

Thank you to all the friends and family who have supported me while I was in Spain this past year. It has meant so much to have your encouragement and I hope you have enjoyed reading about my experiences and will continue to seek out your own offshore adventures. I invite you to continue to follow my life in New York on Apple Juice.

Besos,

Schu