This article had stared me down for almost five months. I wrote this on Wednesday, May 13, a week before I said goodbye to Switzerland and the life I'd built there. I would've posted this sooner, but the final draft disappeared and I honestly couldn't muster the energy to write it again. Now, as I write to you from a different headspace, I'd like you to join me in reflection as I look back at this chapter of my twenties.
1. Racism exists in more ways than we'd like to admit. This whole year has been an unfortunate reminder of the fact. With that in mind, I'd like to reaffirm that this blog is a safe for anyone who needs it.
2. The country is in dire need of a paradigm shift and better practices that are welcoming towards skilled migrants. My biggest grievance was being told by multiple recruiters that they would no longer proceed with my application because of my passport/citizenship/visa. Is there really a need to advertise certain jobs without clarifying citizenship restrictions? Far too many of my non-Swiss, non-EU friends got passed for incredible opportunities because of where they were born. At the very least, this calls for an honest disclaimer mentioning that only certain nationalities will be considered for the position in question.
3. There is such a thing as unnecessary bureaucracy. Rules help make sense of daily life and construct a common lifestyle from which everyone can benefit. Though bureaucracy is a challenge no one can escape from, there are certain processes that could benefit from an online transition, as I'll mention further ahead.
4. Adherence to the rules and punctuality are two of the admirable things this country has to offer. That being said, the stereotype of Swiss punctuality holds true, and teaches you to not only be on time, but early.
5. Living in an advanced economy doesn't always translate into coexisting with transparent and modern solutions. I can say quite a bit about this, but the process to get a Residence Permit in Switzerland is nothing short of traumatic. Within two weeks of arriving, I twice had to wake up at the break of dawn and wait several hours before being called to process my application. I gave up after the first time once I saw the Migration Office (OCPM) was about to close and there were still upwards thirty people ahead of me.
Fortunately, I lived quite close to the OCPM, and managed to get through the second time around after little over two hours.
Once you've gone through this first hurdle, there's the unspecified amount of waiting time until you actually get your permit, which is the first of many obstacles you need to jump over before even thinking of opening a bank account. All is well that ends well, right? This whole experience was the first time I'd ever had to apply for a visa and residence permit, and it made me deeply grateful to hold two passports that have opened many doors.
6. Places don't define us; rather, we choose how to define them. Ever since I first identified my dream Master's program, I believed Geneva would be my end-all, be-all city. Two years later, while I am grateful to have lived there, different lessons opened my eyes and made me acknowledge that the capital of global diplomacy wasn't the right place for me on the long run. I learned, laughed, loved, suffered and grew, and I wouldn't change the past twenty months for the world. However, I need to live in a dynamic city that isn't defined by a rigid subset of career choices, or by a cultural identity that consciously and unconsciously normalises racism and other forms of discrimination.
7. Graduate school will be one of the best, and trying, periods of your life. For the first time in my academic life, I struggled. It wasn't that I couldn't understand the course material, or achieve similar milestones as my peers. I was genuinely challenged by the rigour displayed by both professors and fellow classmates, moonlighting in the library more times than I can count, participating in class debates nonstop and going to office hours, and for the first time I got an okay grade for my efforts. Up until graduate school, I'd always expected that effort equaled output or, at least, a good grade. The last four semester of lectures, debate, countless essays and thesis preparation showed me there's still a long way to go, and that true growth only truly happens when we are far from being the smartest people in any given room.
8. It's okay to throw your plans up in the air, especially if they've been disrupted by a global pandemic. Need I say more? I went from having a guaranteed job until September, to being unemployed, to being offered a teaching job in Japan that was meant to begin in August, to finally not knowing when I'll be able to go. I went from finally living on my own, to packing my belongings in a frenzy and traveling through two countries and four cities before I finally made it back home in July.
9. Being multicultural doesn't translate to being respectful or understanding. Going on a volunteer trip does not make you culturally sensitive. Speaking multiple languages does not transform you into an empathic individual. Traveling to over fifty countries does not make you the paragon of globalisation or an entire generation's moral compass. The world is much bigger than what we think we can bring to the table, and it's only by accepting this that we will reshape our planet into a better world for succeeding generations.
10. Politics will continue to divide us, if we don't decide how to use it for the sake of compassion and solidarity. If your country had elections this year, I hope you voted. If your country is weeks away from elections, I implore you to go out and vote (looking at you, United States.) Donate to causes you believe in, volunteer to help with issues present in your community, and stay up to date with the news.
11. Travel, travel again, and then travel some more, because nothing in life is guaranteed. Need I mention COVID-19 again? As a curious and adventurous extrovert, these past months of confinement have been HARD. I haven't hung out with friends in months (protecting my loved ones is priority number one!) or traveled since February. That being said, I can't stop a huge smile from sweeping across my face whenever I think of how I squeezed my pennies to explore as much as humanly and financially possible.
12. Dare to push your boundaries. Go on that trip, apply to that competition, nominate yourself for that position. The biggest lesson I've learned in my twenties is that the worst failure we can face is not giving ourselves a shot.
Geneva: Thanks for a confusing, thrilling and once in a lifetime adventure I won't ever forget.
First week in Geneva. September 2018