2016 – A Year in Review

I have a lot to write about since my last post, but I’m going to catch up on that stuff next year 😉 .  As New Years Eve approached, I started thinking about my year and decided I should write a blog before the New Year begins!  The year 2016 was a big one for me.  I’m having trouble wrapping my head around all that has happened and all the travel I was able to do in merely 12 months!

I started off the year working at a law firm in Washington, D.C.  Having watched my father build an impressive career in the public sector, I have never wanted anything less than to work in DC.  Private sector was a bit of a side step for me after interning in the public sector for the entirety of my college career.  Nonetheless, working in DC was a fantastic experience for me.  I joined a Kickball League with friends on the National Mall!  The firm at which I worked also provided tickets to local DC sports games, which was a blast.  Not only was I working in the field that I had studied, but I loved it!  And the paychecks allowed for me to pop around on mini vacations without guilt!

Four months into the year, I found out that I made it into the TAPIF program!!  I received the email while I was on a belated-graduation-trip with my mom.  I was immediately overwhelmed because I truly loved my job in DC but I knew I couldn’t pass up an opportunity like this!  When I received the acceptance, I experienced a miniature quarter-life crisis.  I had only two weeks to tell the program yes or no.  On the one hand, I had wanted to do this program ever since I heard of it.  However, a little part of me started to feel weird knowing that I would turn 25 during that school year.  It seemed a little backwards to quit a full-time well-paid practical job in order to accept a position teaching part-time… even if it meant living abroad!

Luckily for me, my parents were beyond supportive of me in making this decision.  It’s pretty overwhelming to think about how encouraging they have been through all of this.  I thought for sure my parents would have scoffed at my TAPIF income (I work 12 hours a week folks), but as my father says,

you aren’t going there for the money, you’re going for the experience!