A summer ago, I was partnered up with another student volunteer for an eight week service learning project in Oaxaca, Mexico with a program called Amigos de las Américas. I grew personally as a human being from my time in Cruz De Piedra. I found justice and love for a different culture. I was also intrigued deeply by this challenge. Traveling to Oaxaca, Mexico opened my eyes to a world where difference of economic wealth did not determine the status of someone’s mind or heart. There difference was praised for an opening discussion which is what I would like to see and learn more about in Ecuador. Before I experienced such situations, I didn’t know how it would be, but being a part of all that made me thirst for more sharing with new cultures.
When you get old you wonder about things and maybe have regrets. In my efforts to not do that, I am embarking on an adventure before college with a program called Global Citizen Year. This is a program that will allow me to work and learn in Ecuador for 8 months, and with this program I have great hopes to become more educated. Since graduating from high school I have realized that all the programs I’ve been involved with have helped me see that we all can make a difference. Those programs and those people in my life have molded me into someone who wants to go beyond college and shape the world with my ideas. While abroad, I will be living with a host family and doing work in the fields of public health, education, sustainable
agriculture, or economic development. I feel like the little engine that could…and would and did! By so much of my efforts to widen my views but that’s not enough so I keep going. So, share my dream at the end of the day. The sharing of culture is a really rewarding thing and I feel like I am in a wonderful place now. I’m molding my life gracefully with the support of others.
