Clementine Hawkins
2021/22
Greece
Every day I wake up and I tell myself today is going to be a great day. My mom advised I do this, and has always told me how powerful my brain is in changing my mindset. After my morning routine of making my bed and washing my face and brushing my teeth, I sit down with my mug of hot water pressed to my heart and meditate. I first focus on the sounds around me, and then on my own breath. Sometimes I do a loving kindness practice where I visualize people and wish them peace, happiness and good health. I walk into my day with my positivity. In the kitchen, Kacey Musgrave’s soothing voice plays on the speaker. My roommate gives me a hug and asks what I have going on that day. I am nervous for an exam and excited for frisbee tryouts. This week we’ll be hosting a potluck for the club I help run. I’ll cook with my close friends, I’ll sing in front of my art class, I’ll attend an ecstatic dance festival by the water with my coworkers, and be gifted kombucha in the library on two separate occasions. I will be reminded of the support of my loved ones in every possible way. This life Is not by chance.
This is a life I curated and worked hard for. I’m not talking about working for money, I’m talking about the work of self love and building community. My gap year with Carpe Diem taught me how to do that. In high school, I struggled to find my place. For a time I was lonely and the pressure to be perfect and excel in addition to keeping up with beauty standards in the age of social media left me struggling with my mental health. I knew I had work, but it didn’t feel like the people around me felt that way. Traveling with 11 other students and growing so close to all of them through song, dance, exploration, risk taking, and weekly letters of affirmations, built me up from the ground. If my fellow carpe humans and Overseas Educators could love my weird, quirky, emotional, singing self, why couldn’t others? This mindset left me refreshed and with a new sense of purpose and confidence. I went into my freshman year at Uvm ready to try new things and make lasting friendships. Thanks to Carpe Diem, I set off on the right foot and began to look for my place, knowing I would find it.