1 Year Ago

This quote has been my e-mail signature for a long long time, but it was never more true for me than it was this weekend one year ago.

Yesterday, one year ago, I first heard about the opportunity to come to Switzerland. I remember so clearly receiving a text message from my Master's thesis supervisor saying something like, "I know this is crazy, but I just applied for you for a PhD position in Lausanne, Switzerland"... And although I had always considered doing a PhD, and although this professor had always encouraged me to consider doing one, at that time I wasn't looking for a PhD position, hadn't applied anywhere, and definitely wasn't considering moving overseas!

And so that text message began a week of exhilaration,  Skype interviews, overwhelming emotions, trying to weigh up the pro's and con's and finally deciding to accept the position and move to Switzerland. Pretty crazy. I thought I was totally nuts at the time - I knew no one in Lausanne, didn't speak the language, and wasn't even sure I wanted to do a PhD - and yet at the same time, I just knew I had  to take this opportunity. I knew I would regret it if I didn't. I knew I would always wonder "what if" if I hadn't made that decision to pack my bags and go. And so began an incredible journey.

Honestly, I am not even sure what happened between August last year and arriving in Lausanne at the end of December. All I know is that it was a frantic 4 and a bit months of working full time, trying to finish an internship, write a board exam and make sure I was fully registered in South Africa as a psychologist, sort out my life in SA, do all the admin for moving (and goodness, was there a lot of that!), sort out a visa, try and learn some French and spend as much time as possible with friends and family. It passed in a blur and stepping off the plane in Geneva was actually a relief!

And now I find myself, after almost 8 months of life in Lausanne totally content and loving every step of this journey. I love my life here - my work, my friends, the environment, the traveling, learning a new language, and all the marvelous things that come with living in a new country. I am so incredibly grateful to be here, so aware that this is such a gift.  There has never been a moment where I have regretted the decision to come. Yes I miss home, yes I miss my family, yes I think about my friends... but I am here now, and this is where I want to be.