One of the things I'm not so proud of, but glad to have learned, is that I judge a lot of people. It's not something that anybody should do or be proud of at all. And going into a field were open mindedness is key, it broke my heart even more to have realized this about myself. As stated in another post, one thing I never thought of as a big thing between France and the US, is the way we dress. There it's all about presentation, here people are okay being out in whatever. When I got back and had to ger used to that change again, I would often find myself thinking about how 'bummy' somebody was looking inside a walmart. Of course I would also be in there in shorts and a too big t-shirt, or some sweats. I would see these people and start making assumptions about them based on what they were wearing. Along with dress, it eneded up being about weight too, which is even more sad as I'm not a small person. When I finally figured out that I was doing this, in part because of how used to I was to people always looking put together and slim along with my own personal bias', I knew I had to do better.
I'm working on this since then and to today. I don't want to be working in a community and treat them differently because of the way I think they look, thats rude, shallow and unfair. I'm thankful that I was able to see it in myself, think on it and be able to say I need to make a change. While it breaks my heart that I needed to go to another country to figure this out about myself, I am forever thankful I did. It could have caused problems down the road for me personally, and career wise.