Summer Camp Leadership

This summer, I went on my first service trip. I went to the airport, terrified. I was scared of meeting people, scared of leaving the country, and not knowing the language. I came back from my trip, excited, passionate, and ready to continue exploring. Throughout my trip I learned so many things that have improved my outlook on the world. From the first day, I started to fall in love with the country, the culture, and the people I was meeting. I quickly became close with everyone in my program through team bonding and leadership games, making all the rest of my fears a lot easier to handle. The amount of service was well balanced with exciting adventures. One of the most memorable nights was camping in the mountain town of Jarabacoa. We took a four-hour ride on a safari truck to get there and then spent the afternoon hiking to a swimming hole. When we got back, we played with the local children while their family cooked us a traditional domination dinner. Before spending a night in tents, we made a fire and sat with the family while they told us ghost stories. This experience was one of many that made me so thankful for this adventure.