One day, a few years ago, I received an e-mail about an opportunity to teach in China. After countless thoughts, prayers, and conversations, I decided to take chance…and that chance changed my life. I never felt a specific call to come to China, I never dreamed of living in a place so different from my home, and China was never a place I was really attracted to.
When it came to making the decision to teach for a year in China, the question that settled in my mind was “why not?” There were plenty of reasons to stay home- family, friends, food, familiarity, but if I chose to stay in the comfortable, who knows what I could miss out on?
I spent my whole life reading stories about people who went on adventures. Some stories were true, some were fictitious, yet they all involved people who left the world they were familiar with to discover a bigger world.
One of my favorite quotes is from one of my favorite adventures, The Lord of the Rings, where Frodo says to Sam “Remember what Bilbo used to say: 'It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.’”
When I stepped on the plane to China, I had no idea what was to come, I had no idea where that road led. But, one of the greatest parts about adventures is that you often experience the unexpected.
I didn’t expect to love teaching English. I didn’t expect to have amazing students. I didn’t expect to fall in love with these people and this place. I didn’t expect my life to change into something I could have never imagined.
Don’t be afraid to take a chance. Don’t be afraid to ask “why not” and take a step into the unknown.
