My 19 year old daughter is about to return home after over 3 months working in children’s homes in India. She spent similar time in Ghana late last year. When I was her age there is no way I could have embarked on such adventures.
Throughout my teens and early twenties I was quite shy and lacked self confidence. Leaving home was a very gradual process and looking back I had some lucky breaks that propelled me forward and helped me change.
The bottom line with any form of self improvement is that you have to change from how you are now. Sometimes, like with me, circumstances and people around you help facilitate change without much conscious effort. Other times, it’s down to you to decide that you want to change and take the steps necessary to move forward.
I’m really happy that whatever we got right as parents helped give my daughter sufficient self confidence to undertake this gap year and travel and work abroad.