It does not feel like six months have passed since I arrived in Namibia back in August. Every day seemed so full and so long, and yet I feel as though almost a fourth of my service has passed in the blink of an eye.

I am still trying to grasp everything being thrown my way. I have now been teaching for a month, but I still haven’t fully established my daily routines both inside and outside of the classroom. I am still trying to figure out all of the levels and learning styles of my learners, I am still trying to determine which kinds of activities and teaching techniques reap the most reward and success, and also I am still just trying to figure out the little things that make me happy, so that I can keep myself occupied in the free time that I have.

I haven’t begun many projects because I am still trying to figure things out, and while this may worry me sometimes, I know that it is okay. The Peace Corps has encouraged us to use our first year to focus more on our teaching than other various projects we wish to pursue, which makes sense because by spending more time teaching the learners, we start to realize the needs that they have, which in turn better sets up future projects. However, I am planning on making headway on several things very soon, and I am looking forward to it.

Serving as a volunteer can be daunting. You have so much potential set before you and you have to decide what is worth pursuing and what is not. Two years, in reality, is not very much time to do all of the things we wish to do during our service. Which can be a blessing and a curse. The curse is that we will always feel like we can be doing so much more. Time restraints can prevent us from assisting to develop our site’s full potential before we are sent to our COS (Close Of Service). But, the blessing is that we realize which projects are most needed and dedicating the time we do have to developing and working on those as much as we possibly can. We focus on quality over quantity, which is something very important for Peace Corps Volunteers to remember.

As for me, I am trying to take the time I have here to focus on developing myself as a person. Yes, I have spent a lot of time watching TV shows and movies when I could have been spending a little more time doing things that are more…productive, but sometimes it is very important to chill out and relax.

I am young, and I am still discovering my interests and my passions. I am thinking about my post-service future and various things I may want to do. Yet, I am also trying to put the majority of my focus on the here and now so that I can truly get the most out of my service and not be distracted.

It’s a fine line to balance, and I am nowhere near mastering it. But hey, I’ve got time!