Forever Young, Let's Try Something New!

This morning at 7am, After four years of hard work, great friendships, and new experiences I left Miami, Florida and Johnson and Wales University to start something new in a city somewhere on the other side of the world in a country called Armenia.

Sitting alone in this hotel room in Alexandria, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C., my staging city for the Peace Corps, is giving my time to reflect on what I have accomplished in the last four years. So much has happened, I wonder if the me before college would recognize the person I have become.

I can still remember walking through the Detroit Metropolitan Airport in the Fall of 2006 excited about all of the possibilities that lay in front of me. I wanted to change the world, I wanted to join the Peace Corps and travel to foreign and exotic places bringing skills, knowledge, and hope. It was scary and exciting at the same time. Walking through that airport, I had one thing that I knew a lot of kids my age did not have, I had a plan and a plane ticket to somewhere new. No commitments, no obligations, just myself and a strong desire to succeed.

Flash forward to May 2010. Everything I dreamed about has materialized in front of my eyes.

I just received my Bachelors of Science Degree from Johnson and Wales University where I graduated from the Honors College Magna Cum Laude with my degree in Management and a concentration in International Relations. I have worked in a management position for the last three years, acquiring experience at Levy Restaurants and the Fairmont Turnberry Isle as a Restaurant Supervisor and Assistant Outlet Manager, respectively.

Old friends have gone, and new ones have arrived. Some friendships from home have endured, while some have not. The people I thought I would always talk too are not necessarily the people that I currently do while some who were just acquaintances in High School have now become lifelong friends.

Friendships from the last four years have been the key to my success. I have met some amazing people in Miami, some of the greatest people I will ever have the joy to know.

Life is great people, enjoy it to the fullest.

Adios Miami, you have shown me some of the greatest times I will ever have. Thank you.

---Chad