My Decision to Extend

As many of you saw on Facebook a few weeks ago, I have decided to extend my time in Laos by an additional 5 months.  I wanted to write this post to explain to everyone my thought process for making this decision, as it was not an easy one.

Even before I accepted this position at PoP, my goal was to do so well the first few months that they would ask me to stay for an additional length of time. I knew that past interns had extended their time for up to a year, so I knew it was possible. My goal  to get an extension for a year was for two main reasons:

1) I have personally always wanted to live abroad for a full year. When I did my term abroad in college it was for 4 months, and we moved around every month to a different country so I never felt settled or learned about one culture in depth.
2) Many jobs in the international development field recommend (if not require) some field work in developing countries (the longer the better). Six months is too much like a term abroad that most people partake in now, and even one year is not that long since most people will do the Peace Corps (2 years) or something similar.

During my first 2.5 months in Laos, I kept thinking I was going to live in Laos for a full year. When people asked me how long I was here for, I would say "6 months, but I might stay longer". I was planning in my head where I would take people if they came to visit me. I was taking Lao 3 times a week so that I could communicate with staff at work and around town. In my head, I was already staying.

So you would think that when I had a call with my supervisor in NY and she told me they would love to have me stay, I would be jumping up and down! I was not. The week before I had this call with my supervisor, I started having mixed feelings about staying longer. It came down to a huge battle - professional vs personal.

Professional:

• I was told that it was not a huge deal if I stayed here for 6 months or 12 months. Its not like I was going to be international for 3+ years, which is where it would really make a difference.
• I wasn't sure how it would look if I was an intern for a full year. I was using this opportunity to switch my career path to go into international development. An additional 6 months would not be needed to prove that I was passionate about this line of work.
• I wasn't sure if I would be challenged at work my whole time here, especially if I extended.  Now that I was used to my surroundings, the culture, the language, the office, and the people, simple things were not difficult anymore and so I was starting to get bored. I wanted more responsibility, and I was told that I wouldn't necessarily get it because my role was supposed to be a supportive role to the Country Directors.
• My goal was to get to DC to work in international development - so why hold myself back. I should just get started already!

Personal:

• That reason I mentioned before - about me wanting to live in a developing country for a year was still there and looming above my head. There are some parts of a culture you do not experience until you live there for an extended amount of time (more than 6 months).
• I also wanted to prove to myself that I could do this. I needed to get it out of my system, and I didn't know if 6 months would cut it.
• I have my whole career ahead of me, and probably 40 years to work. Why do I need to rush back to get back into the grind if I'm enjoying myself here?

So the battle began. I had 2 weeks to make my decision and tell NY.  I had multiple teary calls with my family and best friends, I emailed and set up Skype calls with people in my network about what they believed the pros and cons would be, I researched online, I did some job searches (even applying to one job), I talked with all the mangers at work to see if they had additional responsibilities/challenges I could take on.

Karin, the M&E Manager in Laos, suggested that I write out a list of everything that I want to get out of being here and what I need to learn in order to get to my dream job. One morning before I had to give my decision, I went through the list I created with her, and it turns out that I could get a lot of those things here! Including a research project, which was a top contender. I also made a long pro and con list, and it turned out that the pro list for staying vastly outnumbered the con list.

As I mentioned before, I have decided to stay and I will be using the time to 1) learn as much at the office as I can 2) study for the GMAT so I can apply for business school 3) talk to ask many iNGO representatives here in Laos to get a better understanding of the field. I am very excited I made this decision and I think that it was the right choice for me and my future. I will not have another opportunity like this again and I want to take advantage!

So if anyone will be in South East Asia before June 20, give me a ring!