Making Room for Something New
About the Author
Tabea Marie Nordhausen is a second-year IBCoM student. In her free time, Tabea likes to write, listen to music, and painting. This is her second year of participating in the Embrace committee as a writer, but this year she is also the President of the EmbrACE committee
Making room for something new - Exchange pt.3
By Tabea Nordhausen
Recently I have been going through my room at the house of my parents. It has been four years since I have left it. All of my childhood memories are in this room, my old books, games, clothes. The piano I used to practice on and the music albums I used to listen to.
All in all, I love this room, but it is crowded. Full of old things, that once meant something to me. My closet cannot fit the clothes I wear now, because it is packed with the things I used to wear. I am still hoping to go on exchange soon and start a new chapter. But maybe it is time to make room for the things I own now in my childhood room. At least until I move out, I would have to get rid of a few things and store the things I want to keep for my future home.
How do you make room for something new? Everyone is different, but I have always been attached to my old things and had a hard time letting go of them, even if they were broken. In recent years I am getting better at getting rid of those things, but there is still room for improvement. Sometimes it is better to make room for things that are more suitable for your life than the old things you are holding on to. This can relate to anything in life, like friends, lovers, or just random things in your room. Although this does not mean to let go of anything good in your life, you should hold onto it. But maybe you realize that you are stuck in your comfort zone and that you want to make a change one day. Then you need to be able to let things and people go if they are more like a burden than an addition to your life. This individual path can take you to unexpected places.
I have to admit that I was scared to move to another country and start my university years. The first day in Rotterdam was hell for me because I was extremely anxious of what might happen. I regretted every life choice I made until that point and wondered what brought me to this city. But only one or two days later I met a friend that made me feel like Rotterdam could actually become a place where I could feel at home. Instantly, I felt better about my choices and was starting to get out of my comfort zone more. Now, almost two years later I could not be happier about the decision of going to Rotterdam. I experienced a lot of ups and downs, but I met and continue to meet amazing people every day.
I know that I am a bit anxious about my exchange and the whole experience of being in a foreign country again, but I also know how much fun I will probably have and how many nice people I will meet during my journey. I recently read a nice quote online “I haven’t met all the people I will fall in love with within this lifetime”. This makes me smile every time I think of it and I am ready to go and explore the places where I will meet these people.
Although letting go and starting new things is scary, I am happy that I have the privilege of doing so. I would not want to stay in my comfort zone forever, even if trying new things is a rollercoaster of emotions for me most of the time. But when I look back on my short 20 years of living experience, I can see that I grew from my experiences and was happier than before, whenever I left my comfort zone.