Skip to content

Every Step We Take

By kendallpaynenewmedia

StepsI believe that everyone’s identities are constantly evolving with every step we take. Every time I grab coffee with a friend or listen to a professor give a lecture or even play a game of Ultimate Frisbee with my friends, I learn something new and in turn my own personal identity shifts and often grows. Most of the time the change is so subtle we hardly even take a second look and sometimes something dramatic occurs and our whole world and perspective is forever changed. In my opinion, both are important and both deserve reflection.

For me, living abroad was easily the most incredible experience of my life. Immersing yourself in a completely different culture forces you to reflect back on your own culture and your own upbringing. Throughout my time abroad I found similarities in Australian and American cultures, but I also found a lot of ´interesting cultural differences` as my orientation leader, Steve, liked to say. Recognizing these differences I found myself wondering what about our distinct communities and respective cultures made us different and what made us the same. Along with my Aussie friends, I made friends from all over the world including: The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Austria, England, Russia, China, California, Washington, Wisconsin, Florida, Kansas, Oregon, and New York. I truly learned how much my own communities and cultures had shaped me after seeing just how much these friends’ cultures had affected them.

MotoDuring my week long break from school in September, a few friends and I decided to make a ten day trip to New Zealand. We flew to Auckland, then rented a campervan and ventured all around the North Island. One night at a campervan park, I was a bit fed up with being pent up in the van and decided to take some time alone in the kitchen/ wifi zone. I ended up striking up a conversation with a couple who currently lived in New Zealand. Later one of my travel buddies joined us and we ended up talking with these people for over three hours. They had decided not to have kids and instead travel the world and live, as they described it as, `a completely free life.´ Their perspective on life was fascinating to me. It was so completely different from anything I had ever been taught about what you should want out of life. I was raised in a culture where you work hard in high school so that you can get into college so that you can get a job so that you can make money so that when you have kids they can afford to live a ´good´life. This system had never before seemed so repetitive to me. Laurie and Jack didn't ever say that this lifestyle was a bad or wrong option they simply urged me to remember that it is just an option and that there are other paths that can make your life ´fulfilled.´

Experiences and discussions like this continued to expand my views and helped my identity to mature and develop. Bill Nye once said, ¨Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don´t.¨ With every conversation about indie music around the world, every discussion of the differences in the way ultimate frisbee is played across different countries, every discussion considering and even debating politics around the globe, and every deliberation on different religions and religious cultures, I learned something new from my peers and often learned something new about myself.

SportMy time abroad taught me a lot of things about the world and a lot about my world. I truly came to terms with the idea that it is honestly silly to be anyone but yourself, but also found that it is okay to let yourself and your identity grow as your horizons continue to expand.

Leaving Australia was one of the hardest things I've done. I had found a love for the places I´d seen, the people I'd met, and the person I had become. My perspective of the world has been completely altered and I feared leaving would somehow negate all that growth. But after leaving I learned that this was only the beginning. I found a passion for travel and exploration of places, people, cultures, and communities. I know that I will continue to learn and grow within my own communities, as well as communities around the globe.

As of now I identify with a lot of different ´labels.´To name a few: daughter, sister, friend, dog lover, photographer, film maker, reporter, ultimate frisbee player, mostly an extrovert, but sometimes an introvert, around a 4 on the Kinsey Scale, lover of adventure, traveler, explorer, hard worker, dyslexic, musician, indie music fanatic, lover of documentaries, GW student, chill, creative, sometimes funny, and so many more. Everyone of these and more have been and will be subject to change. I will never be the same person that I was yesterday and I think that’s truly the beauty of identity.Camera