Accomplishments

With a little over two months left in my Fulbright grant, I have reached my year-long goal of reading fifty books in my (ample) free time here.

While I realize that this goal has little-to-nothing to do with my students or with my short-lived career as an English teacher, it still feels incredibly fulfilling to be engaged in a successful long-term project during my time here. Sure, I can't say that I accomplished world peace or cured cancer while over here, nor can I even say that any of my students have become fluent in English thanks to my guidance. However, I can say that for maybe the only ten months in the next fifty years of my life, I had plenty of free time to pursue my passion of reading great literature without interruption.

And, as the New York Times article that MJ just forwarded to me clearly implies, reading literature is good for us and makes us more empathetic, understanding, and socially-nuanced human beings.

So now it's time to re-frame my initial goal of 50 books... with 73 days left (oh my gosh- only 10 more weeks until I get to sleep in my own bed, hug my mom, and lounge on the splendid beaches of Cape Cod!!!!!), I'll aim to reach 65 by the time I land in Boston.

Ready, set, read!