Isabel Yu

I am currently living my twentieth year of life on Earth, my twentieth trip around the sun. And while I am extremely excited for what this year may bring, I have (for the majority of those years) always been one to get stuck reflecting on moments in my past, inhibiting me from growing and moving forward. Throughout this past year, I have been lucky enough to live in another country for four months, which in and of itself has changed my perspective on a myriad of things, especially the way American culture influences people. However, at the end of November I took part in a week-long student exchange trip to Morocco, and the interactions with the people I met along the way have changed my mentality about life, happiness, and perseverance for the better.

 Compared to my other experiences traveling, the culture shock was unlike anything I had experienced before, but not necessarily in a bad way. The unknown adventures that laid ahead of me were still exciting. I viewed the constant over-stimulating surroundings as a potential challenge to work through and hopefully forge new relationships as I went. 

During one of the first nights we were there, our new Moroccan friends brought us on a medina walk. After filing through many narrow, stone streets and up chipped flights of stairs we reached what seemed to be a fortress ruin overlooking the darkness of the Mediterranean. There were few lights and we could just barely make out the shadows of passerby. A few moments later a hooded man started speaking in Arabic to one of the Moroccan students that were guiding us and then proceeded to speak in English to the rest of the group standing close enough. He emerged from the cloud of cigarette smoke that initially blocked his face and introduced himself as Abdullah. It was clear to me that this man had a story to share and I already found myself with a million questions rushing to my head, but I pushed them aside and brought my focus back to the faint, warm light of the cigarette butt illuminating his face. Abdullah shared with us his experiences in the circus as an acrobat and reminisced about his travels across the Americas, Europe, and Asia, meeting people from all walks of life. Sadly, his career in the circus had come to an end due to an injury, but his act was survived by his sons instead. 

Honestly, it was his message after this story that stuck in my mind the most and continues to resurface at times. At first, he metaphorically used the process of building a human pyramid as a circus act, but then Abdullah proceeded to explain that all people should have a strong foundation similar to this pyramid. He assured us that we are all fully capable of it and should take full responsibility to maintain this foundation throughout our whole lives. They are built by our studies, love for family and friends, and practicing your faith, which are core values that transcend any cultural or societal border. Abdullah wanted us “young people” to take that foundation and build on it forever. If we ever feel as though we can no longer build we shall return our energy to the meaning of our foundation once more, refocus, and grow again from there since (according to Abdullah) there are no limits to be scared of and no one except yourself to be potentially holding you back. 

“Always look forward, never behind.”