by Maren Oslac
I studied abroad for my Junior year of college.
It started with a host family and a study plan in Paris, and turned into an adventure in the south of France and beyond. This morning I listened to a wonderful Ted Talk “To Hold On, Let Go” whose premise was that for us to get what we really want, we have to let go.
Those two things may not seem connected, yet, they are – AND together they hold a huge key to stepping into our future and developing our transrational knowing: letting go of what we think we know – about ourselves, what’s next, and especially how we get there.
I arrived in Paris beyond excited. I made my way to the 16th arrondissement where my host family lived and I was warmly welcomed into a small apartment by …another American student. It turned out that the family consisted of a professor who worked long hours and his two adult children who were never home.
Since we were not able to converse with French speakers at home we wandered out into the beautiful ‘City of Lights’. We quickly discovered that the Parisians were more interested in practicing their English than in helping us with our conversational French. We were stuck.
Stacy, my American roommate, and I both had big expectations for a year in Paris, and we were feeling frustrated and more than a bit cheated. We decided that being underwhelmed by our year abroad was not an option. We began playing idea games, using the rules of improv (agree, make statements and opportunities, never mistakes) to explore how each of us could get everything we wanted out of our year abroad.
It changed everything.
In the first semester, in addition to the classes that were part of the program, I got a job assisting a Paris photographer and Stacy started dating a French college student. We spent less time at the apartment and more time with French students. When the Berlin wall fell, we traveled to Germany with a group of Parisians.
We continued our ‘what if’ improv sessions which led each of us to create ideal second semesters for ourselves.
Stacy moved in with her boyfriend and began auditing classes at his school. I moved to a tiny town in the south of France and immersed myself in a culture that didn’t speak any english. I found an apartment, enrolled in a local school, took several babysitting jobs and worked in a restaurant.
I created my ideal environment for who I wanted to become and what I wanted to learn.
Moving from Paris meant dropping out of the official abroad program and its classes. Since I wanted to get credit for my second semester, my very unconventional solution had to be very comprehensive. Our idea game had laid out for me the incredible potential and how I would actually learn more doing it this way than staying in their program. I would, and I did. I backed up my claims with an oral exam and written paper at the end of the year.
My exceptional year was a direct result of letting go to hold on. I let go of all assumptions, all the best practices and the knowledge of what a school year abroad looked like. I held on to why I was and who I wanted to become.
For each us to get what we want, we need to let go of some of the tightly held beliefs that we hold and we have to have a regular practice of embracing possibility. Doing this for ourselves, as leaders, not only sets an example, it lays a foundation for those who are following in our footsteps.
Stacy moved in with her boyfriend and began auditing classes at his school. I moved to a tiny town in the south of France and immersed myself in a culture that didn’t speak any english. I found an apartment, enrolled in a local school, took several babysitting jobs and worked in a restaurant.
I created my ideal environment for who I wanted to become and what I wanted to learn.
Moving from Paris meant dropping out of the official abroad program and its classes. Since I wanted to get credit for my second semester, my very unconventional solution had to be very comprehensive. Our idea game had laid out for me the incredible potential and how I would actually learn more doing it this way than staying in their program. I would, and I did. I backed up my claims with an oral exam and written paper at the end of the year.
“THERE ARE NO MISTAKES, only opportunities.”
~ Rule 3 in Tina Fey’s Rules of Improv
My exceptional year was a direct result of letting go to hold on. I let go of all assumptions, all the best practices and the knowledge of what a school year abroad looked like. I held on to why I was and who I wanted to become.
For each us to get what we want, we need to let go of some of the tightly held beliefs that we hold and we have to have a regular practice of embracing possibility. Doing this for ourselves, as leaders, not only sets an example, it lays a foundation for those who are following in our footsteps.
Join us on Dec 21st for a unique workshop… details
It’s time to emerge from the darkness, lighten up and set up your 2025 through a playful, empowering workshop.