A couple of months before I left on a trip by myself to meet a group of strangers, I had been sitting in my Chemistry class in Felmey Hall when a recruit came in to spread the word about an organization I had never heard of, GIVE Volunteers. With very little research I convinced myself that it was a step I must take and signed myself up. Fast forward to awkwardly sitting on an old school bus filled with 30 additional volunteers, travel down a gravel road to a small fishing village on Western shore of the nation. Although the first 12 hours were a little awkward and intimidating I grew to appreciate that group of strangers and some of them are still my good friends today, four decades after. We started in the small town of Jiquilillo building houses for single and abused moms and worked our way to Little Corn Island, teaching kids and working using a recycling program.

Poverty in some of these places were large, I saw things that I had only seen on the news earlier and never thought I'd experience first hand. However, I gained a new respect for the entire world, for my family and friends and all that we have. Little did I know at the time that this trip would change who I was, the way I viewed the world, and that which I would want to perform for the rest of my life.

It was once my flight landed in Chicago that for the first time in my life I had a passion for something. I had done things I enjoyed, such as cooking and taking art courses, things that I thought would be fun to do but I had never craved something such as that passion before. I had spent the previous two weeks traveling volunteering in Nicaragua. And those two months would be the most meaningful weeks of my 18 decades of life. At moments it was terrifying, I questioned why I went, I got sick and missed house and my mom, but the more I did and the more I dreaded, the more I grew along with the more I realized that the best things in life are held at the other side of dread. I had to elongate past my anxiety to jump on that plane and it ended up leading me on an experience I can never forget. That adventure sculpted me as an individual. It lead me into the love of my internship, and the work I do throughout the area.

When volunteering abroad was first offered my internship in Marcfirst my friends told me I was stupid for not looking for an opportunity that would provide cover. I knew it would be relatively time intensive and though doing the job for free was not my first option, it was an organization that consisted of some thing that I completely supported. It was that fire to relinquish in the neighborhood of doing good and helping others no matter what form it arrived in. I am currently seven months to my internship and I love every single second of it. I'd go in longer if I had the time, the money means nothing to me personally and that I completely support the work being done. It has shown that money is not the greatest prize in life, and that delight in what you are doing with your life is.