On exploring, stories and this project: Thoughts from me (Courtney Van Hoosen) + VIDEO
One's own story is always the hardest to write. In this post, I take a look at why exploring and stories mean so much to me, and reflect on what I've learned about humans doing this project.
Now comes the time to write the hardest story of all: mine. Not because it’s so grand, but because it can be difficult to find your own story.In case you haven’t read the introduction letter to Humans of UNL or haven’t yet figured out who the first person “I” has been in the previous posts, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Courtney Van Hoosen. And this is what I've learned doing my Humans of UNL project.
There are a hundred different ways I could introduce myself, and I’ve probably written at least as many in all of the cover letters, applications, speeches and emails I’ve made. For example, I could tell you:
- I’m a proud Nebraskan native, originally from Omaha who was dead set on leaving the state for college only to find myself the perfect home at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (and now a career in the Office of Global Strategies).
- I’m an adventurer who hasn’t seen enough of the world yet—only 20 countries—who spent a year teaching English in Japan on the JET program and dearly misses her students. [And all the real sushi!!!]
- I’m a total bookworm who loves getting lost in a good story, enjoys the weight and smell of real paper books, and highly recommends recommending you read The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, and Becoming by Michelle Obama.
- I am a creative multipotentialite who embraces any challenge that comes my way and perseveres to the end. In my more than 4 years of public relations and communications experience, I've managed a broad range of responsibilities from presentation and event planning, to digital content creation and strategy development (Can you tell this is from my LinkedIn profile?).
- I’m a lifelong nerd who enjoys learning about all sorts of things—shoutout to the UNL College of Journalism & Mass Communications graduate certificate that inspired this project—especially about cultures and foreign languages, including Japanese, French and currently Russian.
But when I try to ask myself what is my story, just as I’ve done for the other incredible people I interviewed for this project, that introduction becomes less clear.
On exploring
As I reflect on my (still much-yet-to-live) life, there is one theme that seems to immediately jump out at me. I considered reading, learning or traveling—but what really ties them all together, what really motivates me, is exploring.How fitting that this is how I decorated my graduation mortar.
Exploring, to me, means staying curious about the world and always looking for the new. It means exploring new interests, finding new places to visit, reading a new book, trying to write in a different way…etc.
Sometimes I fancy myself an explorer when I go into the library, walk up to a shelf, and pick a random book off to read. I can spend hours on combing through the internet for new places to add to my bucket list, only to get sidetracked by looking up restaurants in that city, finding the menu, reading a food item I don’t know, returning to Google to find the origin of the food, find another city/culture/country that has it, find another place to add to my bucket list…etc. I find it fascinating to try new methods of communication at work, testing caption length and new mediums for our @GlobalNebraska social media. I also love to spend hours exploring the thoughts in my head, thinking through what-if scenarios, letting my (often random and convoluted) thoughts take me to wherever they lead. As my college friends and advisors can attest to, I was also an avid explorer as an undergraduate, constantly applying to different involvement organizations, internships, scholarship programs, etc.
And so on.
In my various “expeditions”, shall we say, I’ve realized something very important that I feel this quote sums up nicely:
What I needed, as Agustin told me through his story, was to keep an open mind.
I’m not going to lie to you and say that I have no fear when I’m exploring something new. On the contrary, the part of me that’s not an explorer is a HUGE procrastinator and worrywart. I was terrified to make my college decision and choose UNL, just as I’ve been terrified to apply to jobs because of my fear I wasn’t worthy, or terrified to travel solo by myself for the first time. I don’t have a magical solution either, and being comfortable with those feelings is okay, as Hope taught me. But typically, it comes to a point where I’ve exhausted all the worries and “exploring” the potential problems and I tell myself “Enough is enough,” I make the decision and I forget about the other choices.
Let me tell you about my first trip overseas, for example. The idea was planted in my head when a high school teacher mentioned he was leading a trip to Japan over the summer. My interest was piqued because bookworm me had randomly picked up a book about Japan and fallen in love with the language and very different culture.
My inner explorer was driving me to go, but first I worried about the cost; then I worried about not speaking the language, not knowing the other people on the trip, never having eaten sushi before… Until I made the decision in my head that I wanted to go and that was it. I talked to my parents, paid my deposit, and I refused to let those worries change my mind.
Just as Dipra mentioned in our interview, my overseas travels and global friendships have been some of my favorite adventures because when we look past the differences in culture, food, dress and religion—we realize we are all the same humans.
I didn’t mention this earlier, but I was always getting into trouble when I was little. My crime—reading past bedtime. Even as a little girl, I discovered a passion for the stories in books that will never leave me.
And so on.
In my various “expeditions”, shall we say, I’ve realized something very important that I feel this quote sums up nicely:
“To be a true explorer is to carry on your exploration even if it takes you to a place you didn’t particularly plan to go.” – Lynne McTaggart
The nature of exploring, I think, is that you don’t know what you’re going to find, and sometimes you don’t know where you’re going to end up. Like my college experience—I was 100% sure I did not want to go to school in Nebraska because I thought that I needed to get out of the state (and Midwest) to have international experiences and rigorous academics. But the explorer in me had applied for UNL as my “safety school” and when I got invited to campus for an interview for the first cohort of the College of Business Honors Academy, I felt I had to go and see it out. And on that day, I discovered that I was wrong; UNL was actually the place I needed to be.
What I needed, as Agustin told me through his story, was to keep an open mind.
I’m not going to lie to you and say that I have no fear when I’m exploring something new. On the contrary, the part of me that’s not an explorer is a HUGE procrastinator and worrywart. I was terrified to make my college decision and choose UNL, just as I’ve been terrified to apply to jobs because of my fear I wasn’t worthy, or terrified to travel solo by myself for the first time. I don’t have a magical solution either, and being comfortable with those feelings is okay, as Hope taught me. But typically, it comes to a point where I’ve exhausted all the worries and “exploring” the potential problems and I tell myself “Enough is enough,” I make the decision and I forget about the other choices.
Let me tell you about my first trip overseas, for example. The idea was planted in my head when a high school teacher mentioned he was leading a trip to Japan over the summer. My interest was piqued because bookworm me had randomly picked up a book about Japan and fallen in love with the language and very different culture.
My inner explorer was driving me to go, but first I worried about the cost; then I worried about not speaking the language, not knowing the other people on the trip, never having eaten sushi before… Until I made the decision in my head that I wanted to go and that was it. I talked to my parents, paid my deposit, and I refused to let those worries change my mind.
The moment I stepped out of the plane and into Japan, my life was totally changed.
That might be dramatic to say, but I truly believe that trip fundamentally influenced who I am, what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go. My trip to Japan, initiated by my explorer spark, has led me to visit 20 countries, study abroad 3 times, intern for the State Department, study multiple foreign languages, make friends from all around the world, teach English in Japan and find my current position that combines my passion for storytelling with international relationships.
Just as Dipra mentioned in our interview, my overseas travels and global friendships have been some of my favorite adventures because when we look past the differences in culture, food, dress and religion—we realize we are all the same humans.
On stories
I can’t help myself but to get lost in a story. When I pick up a book, I don’t want to stop until it’s over. And when it’s over, I don’t want it to end, so I read it again (and sometimes again and again). As one of my all-time favorite authors (guess who) once said, “The stories we love live in us forever.”
All of the stories I’ve read, all of the tales I’ve heard have inspired me in some way. Each one that has moved me left a little part within that has contributed to the person I am today. Just ask my well-worn set of Harry Potter books where I have buried my nose more times than I can remember.
Though storytelling forms have transformed over time, stories have remained as much a part of humanity as our DNA, and that gene is very strong in mine. Written stories, perhaps, are the most easily recognized form. It’s the reason why a library is one of my favorite places, why my inner nerd can’t help but find the magic locked inside them.
I can’t describe the amount of inspiration others have given me, even after hearing only a small part of their tale, or even after simply observing them. Each time I’m moved by someone, a little part of them becomes a bigger part of me.
And that is really how this Humans of UNL project was born—from a desire to tell the stories of those who have impacted me.
There are many stories of incredible people I have not yet had the chance to tell. These four people I featured are only a small number of those who inspire me, and only from a small circle of my life, my time at UNL.
All of the stories I’ve read, all of the tales I’ve heard have inspired me in some way. Each one that has moved me left a little part within that has contributed to the person I am today. Just ask my well-worn set of Harry Potter books where I have buried my nose more times than I can remember.
Though storytelling forms have transformed over time, stories have remained as much a part of humanity as our DNA, and that gene is very strong in mine. Written stories, perhaps, are the most easily recognized form. It’s the reason why a library is one of my favorite places, why my inner nerd can’t help but find the magic locked inside them.
But the stories that leave the biggest impact on me are those of the people I meet.
I can’t describe the amount of inspiration others have given me, even after hearing only a small part of their tale, or even after simply observing them. Each time I’m moved by someone, a little part of them becomes a bigger part of me.
And that is really how this Humans of UNL project was born—from a desire to tell the stories of those who have impacted me.
There are many stories of incredible people I have not yet had the chance to tell. These four people I featured are only a small number of those who inspire me, and only from a small circle of my life, my time at UNL.
What I’ve realized through the power of stories, however, is that I don’t talk about me when I introduce myself—I tell them a story that has been shaped by the books I love and the people I’ve met. They will live in me forever, and continue to inspire me as I write my own story.
On this project
Before I finish this final post, I want to share with you a quick note about this project, what it means to me, and what I’ve learned in undertaking it. An in true explorer nature, though I am loath to get behind a camera, I’ve recorded a short vlog below of these thoughts.What I hope YOU’VE learned
I won’t be so bold as to list three things that I hope you’ve learned from me, but I hope, dear reader, that you’ve enjoyed these stories. There are several lessons that I’ve learned personally throughout these interviews, and many more beyond the three I’ve listed at the end of each story. But if you only have time to read one paragraph, I hope it’s the following list and I hope you’ll take it to heart—- Go discover your own story, and live it in a life without limits (as I learned from dear Vicky).
- Remember no matter where you are or who you’re talking to, we are all the same human.
- EVERYONE has their own unique story. Take the time to learn the story of someone you wouldn’t have before.
It was a great joy to interview the four people on this blog, and I can truly say they are inspiring, wonderful humans, as are many people in my life. Thank you for following along, and please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram to share your thoughts!
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