My Return

Dear Blog Readers,

First of all, thank you for your interest in following my year in Moscow as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar. I’ve truly enjoyed your support and getting your feedback throughout the year. I’m writing from San Antonio, where I have spent the past week recovering from jetlag and re-acclimating to life in Texas. I hope that some of you were also able to follow me on Facebook, which I kept updated with photos and comments more regularly. The lack of recent blog posts correlates only to the level of my activity over the spring. Here is one last post, which I’ll follow up with a slideshow of photos.

I want to extend a sincere thank you to The Rotary Foundation, Rotary International District 5840 and the Sunset Rotary Club of San Antonio for sponsoring my year overseas. Also, I want to thank RI District 2220 and the Rotary Club of Moscow East for their generous hospitality and friendship.

Now that I’m back in Texas and transitioning between two phases, I have had some time to reflect on my experience. However, a conclusion would be premature, as I’m convinced that the time I spent in Russia will continue to shape my perspective and my life’s path for many years to come. In Moscow, I got to experience the culture and everyday life of a foreign country, improve my Russian language skills, and test myself by living in the grind of big city. I’ll admit, there were some stressful times, but I’m glad to say I came out on top. I also got to study the Russian and Eurasian political landscape with professors deeply immersed in Russian political life and a great group of student colleagues. Finally, I made some wonderful friends, both locals and foreigners, who welcomed me into their lives with open arms.

My final impression of Moscow is that it’s an exciting, dynamic city constantly changing and at the same time, a place steeped with rich culture and history. I couldn’t have imagined picking a more rewarding place to spend a year. I hope I have conveyed at least some of the reasons for this in my blog posts.

I will spend the next chunk of time visiting Rotary Clubs in the area to present on my year abroad while I begin the search for a new position that allows me to build on my time working with government affairs and my international experiences.

Again, thanks for reading my blog, and I look forward to staying in touch.

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