Jet Programme Series: Taking The Leap - Shellana Babulal
2023/9/28
Jet Programme Series: Taking The Leap - Shellana Babulal
Fear is something that keeps us from our dreams, and stalls the journey to achieving our goals. I knew that I wanted to teach English in Japan, but I let fear keep me from applying. I knew the steps to take, I knew all the deadlines, but I just couldn’t do it. I’d see others talk about their experiences and every September I'd download the application form but never actually fill it out. I would see photos of JETs on their way to Japan, and I'd tell myself, one day that would be you. Next time, for sure.
My name is Shellana Babulal and at 26, it’s finally my time. The biggest wall I had to climb was the one I built in my mind. Now, i’ll be honest, I worried straight up until I got the call that I was accepted, and even then, I didn’t believe it. I waited till I got the email saying congratulations, and I went to sleep and woke back up to check it again, just in case it was a dream.
In the final stages of preparation for my travel to Japan, I started to think of all that I will be missing. Will I wake up to birds tapping on my window and a random chicken crowing. Will I miss the noises from the fish van? Or the scrap iron van? There is a doubles man in my village that I have been buying from since I was a child. He rode a bicycle down the street and I ran out whenever I heard the bike’s bell. He’s still on the bike, but we ride to him now. That bike signals “home" to me. Will I miss dodging the potholes in the road when driving?
I did my degree in Linguistics and Communication Studies and I eventually started falling in love with the cultural aspect of language and how it evolves. I started getting more and more interested in Japanese culture and found myself participating in and viewing many different events. I can’t wait for the opportunities to do the same in Japan.
This is an entirely new journey for me, and I go into it with a phrase I always tell myself when I feel anxious: the ball is in your court, what are you going to do with it?
JET Series: Taking the Leap (Japanese Embassy's Facebook)
JET Programme Series Archives
My name is Shellana Babulal and at 26, it’s finally my time. The biggest wall I had to climb was the one I built in my mind. Now, i’ll be honest, I worried straight up until I got the call that I was accepted, and even then, I didn’t believe it. I waited till I got the email saying congratulations, and I went to sleep and woke back up to check it again, just in case it was a dream.
In the final stages of preparation for my travel to Japan, I started to think of all that I will be missing. Will I wake up to birds tapping on my window and a random chicken crowing. Will I miss the noises from the fish van? Or the scrap iron van? There is a doubles man in my village that I have been buying from since I was a child. He rode a bicycle down the street and I ran out whenever I heard the bike’s bell. He’s still on the bike, but we ride to him now. That bike signals “home" to me. Will I miss dodging the potholes in the road when driving?
I did my degree in Linguistics and Communication Studies and I eventually started falling in love with the cultural aspect of language and how it evolves. I started getting more and more interested in Japanese culture and found myself participating in and viewing many different events. I can’t wait for the opportunities to do the same in Japan.
This is an entirely new journey for me, and I go into it with a phrase I always tell myself when I feel anxious: the ball is in your court, what are you going to do with it?
JET Series: Taking the Leap (Japanese Embassy's Facebook)
JET Programme Series Archives