Best leadership experience!!

Going into the Global Glimpse program I really didn’t think it would have such a huge effect on me as a person and my perspective on the world. I’m more of an introverted person but doing the program really pushed my personal limits in the best way possible. The first day at the airport no one knew each other but we all started talking to each other instantly. All of us tried to make conversation with everyone and included everyone in a conversation so no one felt left out. We all got to meet each other and our Global Glimpse Leaders who were really wonderful. Once we all arrived to the Dominican Republic we were greeted by our wonderful Global Glimpse Coordinators at the airport who were the ones in charge of making our itinerary and tried their best to make everything comfortable for all of us. During this trip we were not allowed to have our phone for the 2 weeks, so once we arrived to the Dominican Republic they took away out phones. Although it seems like it’s really hard it really helps you disconnect with social media and actually connect with people and nature itself. The very first days were sort of hard because as someone who is really close to her family, not being able to contact them for the first days was hard but with the help of all the students there and everyone else you really get distracted with everything going on. The place we stayed in was really nice and comfortable for our group. The people we met there were really nice and patient with all of us there. Not only was this trip really fun but it really brought to my attention many problems going on around the country. We not only got to hear about them from someone who personally goes through them but we also got the opportunity to talk to him and what his experience has been. This person was able to tell us about his own personal experience and others on immigration and racism which was a really sad but eye widening story to hear about. The fact that we got the opportunity to talk to people from the around the community and that they let us into their home which was really nice of them to do because your home can be a very personal space, was such a great experience. What I really enjoyed about this was like I said being able to talk to locals. Although not everyone spoke and/or understood Spanish we had the global glimpse coordinators and leaders as well as some of us (the students) who spoke Spanish translate for both sides which gave everyone the opportunity to learn. We also got to go to the community and place we would be doing our Community Action Project (CAP). During the last 3 days of our trip we worked on our CAP and we were lucky enough to finish in time although we did face some challenges with the weather. We were lucky enough as well to have some of the kids of the community come in and seeing their reactions to our work was really awesome and heartwarming. Although we did get to have great learning experiences and opportunities at the community we also had out fun days which got all of us to get closer with each other and make all of our bonds stronger. It was really nice because we would all play card games which brought all of us together all the time. Overall, it was such a fun and eye widening experience. Really made me be grateful for everything I have and made me want to do more in my community to help out. If I could do it again I totally would and I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is looking for an experience which will bring you out of your comfort zone.