Why Gratefulness in 2021 Matters

A new year and new semester is now underway, but it is never too late to reflect on what last year left us with, and to ask ourselves: was everything we went through even worth it? How could we really take something positive out of such an intense year? 

The entire world breathed a collective sigh of relief when the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve and the calendar read 2021.

However, if you are still feeling exhausted, drained and stuck under the weight of 2020, our team wants to let you know that you are not alone and we felt important to reflect on this sentiment and to keep it all in perspective.

Grateful for Challenges

Although we’d all like to pretend the past year didn’t happen, or that it is already in the past, it’s important that we pay very close attention to all those challenges that made it such an intense year and to learn from them.

To many of us, 2020 meant a significant and major change on our routines, plans, goals and on our personal structures too. 

And for you, if you’re a high school or college student, it meant a significant change in terms of your learning process, but also your way of socializing. You adapted to new ways of studying, communicating and connecting not only with your classmates and teachers but with your friends and family too, and you worked to overcome those difficult challenges. 

The challenges that you’ve faced as an individual within a bigger society have left us with major lessons about solidarity, justice, and adaptability that we all need to implement in our current, respective lives. Collectively, we’ll take these lessons to build a new one that goes beyond society itself and structure a new sense of community: a much more conscious, compassionate and responsible one. 

Just as for us, as a company and as a group of individuals from around the world: many of our plans had to change when the pandemic hit, and we were suddenly stuck in a dense uncertainty cloud with no clear path in front of us. However, it was right in the middle of the crisis that our team found a way to rise above the challenge of the pandemic together, as we’ve always been, and luckily with the same team we had at the start of 2020. 

Grateful for Innovation

For our team, we created two passport-free programs to provide students the ability to connect with an international experience, even if it was virtual. Our Virtual Study Abroad program in partnership with the most prestigious university in Peru, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Additionally, our team created an unbelievable Medical Spanish & Latinx Patient Program integrated Medical Spanish language classes.

Each program had workshops focused on latin culture backgrounds too that are both online and affordable options for students in need of, even under hard circumstances, continue learning and exploring into global perspectives.

Grateful for Growth

So, how could each and everyone one of us feel grateful for 2020? During last year, have you reflected on the fact that challenges, such as economic and political crises and health systems collapsing, have always been a common thing in the world?

They didn’t start in 2020, but somehow no year has ever brought out in such a uniform way, how necessary it is to start thinking even more collectively and to take responsibility for ourselves and others, and how little we really need to live happily.

Challenges will always be a common denominator that we all need to adapt too. So, going from there, why don’t we start approaching life from a grateful, wider perspective and focus on everything we have instead of everything we lack? 

Let’s appreciate what last year taught us. 

Let’s not forget all of those things that let us shine our truest and most vulnerable essence. 

Let’s grow into kindness, respect and care for and to one another. 

Let’s see life from a grateful approach.

Take a minute to think about this and reflect: what are you grateful for today? 

Our team is hopeful the world will become a better and safer place for all of us. We are grateful for being alive, healthy and for the incredible opportunity to keep doing what we love most, despite what’s happening in the world. 

As our organization looks ahead, we are very excited to welcome a new year with you and thrilled to tell you about all of what we have planned for you both online and through future in-person programs.

This 2021 is filled with travel opportunities we need to know how to take advantage of in the most careful and responsible possible way. 

Want to keep connected with us and learn more about our programs ahead? Don’t forget to follow us on all of our social media below! Let’s get it started!

Life at a Distance: Five Positive Takeaways

Nowadays distance is no longer a problem and most of our friends and family are not just a phone call away, but also just a video chat away. Prior to everyone staying at home, we had busy lives at school, work, or even both. Sometimes we didn’t make the time to visit our friends a few minutes down the road, or call our friends or relatives living in other places.

That has changed, and many of us find ourselves doing our part and staying inside rather than heading out. We moved away from our windows, or public places, and turned to our bedrooms or living rooms to stay in touch and reconnect with friends.

We’ve started talking more to our parents, roommates or even our pets, that just a few feet away from us, and we discovered there was so much more to learn from them.

Read more to learn the five positive takeaways of managing our friendships and relationships at a distance!

1. Reengaging Group Chats

Here at EdOdyssey, we firmly believe that travel really does change people, that having the experience of living in other cultures reshapes our minds into a more inclusive and humble way of thinking about life and others. Now that the world needs us to slow down for a moment, and technology has come to our rescue.

Some applications we have used for a long time now have issued updates to accommodate the need of more users in a single session. Whatsapp, for example, doubled its capacity to handle up to 8 users for video calls, and Google Meet became free to use for any users, whether they have a business account or not.

Social media and messaging apps become more important to keep these connections alive.  

2. Sharing more on Social Media

Never have we paid so much attention to our friends’ Instagram stories. And so, technology has helped us build virtual bridges that in just a few seconds tell us how everyone’s day is going, we can catch up on the latest with just tapping into a chatbox. There are now applications that say when people are available for phone calls to avoid calling someone when they’re not available.

But no matter how advanced our technology is today, what this actually tells us is that the connection between ourselves and our loved ones remains, despite the circumstances. This sentiment is especially true for those of us who have had the chance to travel.

3. Reconnecting With Old Friends

We have the opportunity to connect with friends on the other side of the world, another area in our region, or even a different state or time zone. The time that we’ve spent living somewhere away from home has given us the opportunity to learn about what makes us different, but also about what we share, and in the things we shared we built friendships.

We have laughed and cried with our new friends, we have been homesick with our new friends, and we have grown together even in our time apart from each other. 

4. Remembering meaningful moments

As we have returned to our lives back home, we too have physically distanced from those friendships from abroad with whom we once spent daily life, but we’ve gained perspective. If the added time at home has taught us anything, it has shown us that reconnecting with them will always feel like the last time we saw each other was yesterday. 

We may have had very little time in our lives in the past to reach out and ask how they are doing, but they were always in our thoughts. And if for some reason we never got to sending that text message, we have learned that it is never too late to pick up the phone and reconnect.

5. Embracing Positivity and Gratitude

From everyone at EdOdyssey, we want to thank you for doing your part during this time and sharing your light with the world. Our teams wants to encourage you to never let go of your adventurous spirit. If you are reading this as an avid traveler, a prospective study abroad student, a passionate teacher, or an EdOdyssey alum, please know that we appreciate you.

We have more options and opportunities than ever, but we have to share those feelings. If it’s a text, or any audio, say hello and you’ll be surprised what you receive in response! Follow us in the social media links below and engage with us!