So, I set a goal for myself, make this trip your own

When I departed from JFK just over a week ago, my head was filled with an abundance of fear, excitement, but mainly, expectations. From reading previous blogs from past Fellows to inquiring from friends and family about their experiences on the program, I had constructed a vivid image in my head of what my time at Muss would look like. However, after spending a number of days on campus, I became disheartened and disappointed that my experience thus far at Muss did not line up with the picture I had in my head leading up to the trip.

I realized I was trying so hard to make my experience like that of those who told me tales of their adventures on Muss, and I was becoming disappointed that my time did not seem to live up to what I was told it would be like. Then, it registered in my mind, my experience would never be like anyone else's. So, I set a goal for myself, make this trip your own.

With my new goal in mind,  I started to look at my experience differently. Instead of looking at my situation through the eyes of others, I let myself open up to the experience in the here and now. This mindset made all the difference.

From then on, new goals piled on top of my first goal of experiencing the trip myself:

Goal: take good notes to learn and remember about your time here.
Goal: go talk to that person over there.
Goal: smile.

Little by little, these goals turned into a fresh, positive outlook on my experience, an outlook free from constraints of expectation. These goals, although seemingly minuscule in the grand scheme of things, became the foundational building blocks for my own story here at Muss, the one that I write.