I grew up in Titusville FL, a small town know for being the perfect viewing spot to watch the space shuttles launch from Cape Canaveral. The town was so small I could walk from one end to the other with in an hour. My favorite thing to do was to walk to a nearby lake and relax with with my friends, we would fish and climbed tree for…
One of the oldest questions in philosophy is whether humans have free will. When I look in retrospective, my journey to Miami makes me wonder is everything predetermined. Ever since I was a kid, I had vivid dreams about a sunny beach, soft golden sand, palm’s waterfall, and beautiful girl who will love me unconditionally.…
I never realized how lucky I was to be granted such a stupendous life until I saw the poverty some people live in. Over the summer, I was fortunate enough to be able to take an ephemeral trip to Nassau, Bahamas. It was much different than I imagined it would be. I remember walking around and almost being frighten to leave my parents sides. There were natives on every street corner trying to con their way into you spending money on their fake product; there were people going through the trash looking for food; there were people sitting on the street with all their belongings tied up to their bicycle street. You could just tell this country was nowhere near as advanced as the United States. It was nothing like the pictures and it got me thinking of the gloomy lives these children will have to grow up in and all the opportunities that they don't have available here.…
It’s hard for a child who grew up along the coast of Lake Michigan, to begin to grasp the contrast between such inescapable poverty and the prosperity of the United States with its gleaming cities, preserved interstates stretching across the country, steel bridges, telephone lines encompassing every corner of the country, polished cars lining sidewalks, and running water. It’s harder still to describe.…
This summer, I was blessed with an amazing experience. I had the opportunity to travel to Haiti on a mission trip. Of course, I was slightly nervous about traveling to a third world country, where I did not know the language, and the only people I would know would be the people from the church that I was traveling with. However, I knew this would be a life changing experience, so I took the leap! I am so grateful I did because every second was worth it! Our mission was to work with orphans, help homeschool English speaking children, and meet with the women’s group of Grand Savann Christian Church.…
I would like to say I know Spanish, after four years of studying in high school and multiple trips to South and Central America, yet it seems every time I leave the States, I find myself in a frantic struggle to process the words I know and figure out the meanings of the ones I do not. Sometimes this simply means missing out on a few insignificant details, other times it can seriously complicate life.…
Over the summer before my senior year in high school, I was given an amazing opportunity to go to Nicaragua. I was able to expand my spanish vocabulary by teaching a class of adults and children english, talking with many of the locals and venders. The service learning program I went with was Global Glimpse. We learned more about the day to day life of the locals in a third world country. For the service part of the trip we helped improve a local school.We redid the bathrooms, classrooms, and the kitchen. We painted the inside and outside of the bathroom and added a smaller attachable toilet seat for the younger students. Many of the parents who volunteered to cook the lunch for the students said that they needed new cabinets for the dishes…
The date was March 17, 1963 when 3 friends headed off to The Bahamas for a vacation. The 3 friends Michael, David, and John had been planning on this vacation for months now but events caused them to push the date back due to the Cuban Missile Crisis, but it was finally happening and they were ecstatic, they couldn't wait to get into the great weather. As they boarded the plane John was reluctant to get on board, still worrying about his and his friends safety being that close to such a dangerous place. He knew he was just being paranoid but with major threats he felt uneasy. He heard Michael call to him from ahead “Are you coming or what?” John laughed and got on board. When they arrived they felt like they were in paradise, the weather was…
“Take time to be thankful for everything that you have. You can always have more, but you could also have less.” -Anonymous. My family and I have gone to Haiti for the past three years. Haiti is a third world country in the Caribbean about 1836 miles from Chicago. We go there to help others and to receive the gift of giving instead of presents for Christmas.…
Traveling to Haiti came with many challenges: distance, language, and diseases. I was certain I would have trouble communicating with the people I encountered and that I would have to sit still for a nine hour car ride, but I didn’t think I would get sick. Before the trip, for precaution I had to take some medications. The instructions were drink the pill everyday, only consume bottled water, and always wash your hands. I did everything I was told, but still got sick. Though I felt horrible, I was determined to work hard and fulfill my responsibilities. Setting aside my discomfort required determination, commitment, and love for the people around me. I was able to do everything I had set my mind to and once I got back home I went to the hospital.…
We started our tetris trip to Florida in a suburban for 12 hours scrunch up in a ball trying to sleep the whole way down but you know how that goes you never get to sleep the whole way down. I usually play my phone games or play music,if I have internet. We finally get out of Kentucky and in Tennessee to stop to get some gas and use the bathroom,but if you're ever on a trip and you go in to use the bathroom and you see all those snacks so you want to buy one because you're hungry. We are now in Alabama which is the longest state we go through. Were about an hour away from the condo and we stopped to get gas and a snack at thorntons. We made it we yelled rolled down the window and jammed yelawolf as we went over the bridge.…
Overwhelmed. The only word I can think of when the flight attendant calmly says, “Welcome to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, you may now unfastened your seatbelts.” Tears fell from my eyes and all the emotions that I was feeling for the last 4 hours suddenly began pouring out. I had never been to Haiti and the only mindset of it I had was that there was killing and kidnapping. I was extremely anxious because of that. “NO!, YES!, NO!, YES!, NO!!”, my conflicted mind begins to yell. I couldn't believe that I was actually there. Holding up the line, I got off the plane as slowly as possible. Ironically, being up in the air was much more relieving than being on the grounds IN HAITI !. “Daph, you’ll be alright,” my mom says. “Hopefully,” I mumbled. I thought to myself that maybe just maybe I will actually enjoy it.You will never actually understand the importance of bigger things without appreciating the little things…
I have traveled to many places in the world, but traveling to Cancun is the most horrible experience that I’ve ever had in my life. Last year my family and I went to Cancun for our family vacation trip. It was my first trip to the beach. I was playing with my cousin on the beach then we decided to go into the water. I was fine for a few minutes and then all the sudden, I had some weird feeling that I might drown into the water. As I was thinking about it, the weaves became large and I got more scared my cousin had no idea that I don’t know how to swim. I started to panic and the situation became worst. When my cousin saw me in that situation he helped me to get out of the water. I almost drown in the ocean because I thought I could swim. From…
I hold my breath into the dark and rugged cave. My brother in front of me hold his phone that protects with a waterproof case. He tell me to hold my breath into the count of three, and look to the camera because he wants to take a picture under the water. He starts to count one, two, and three. I submerge my body and use my feet to push strongly under the water. I move my hands up and down to push my body deep into the water. I open my eyes and smile to the camera that my brother is recording a video. We return to the surface and unfortunately my face looks weird inside the water because I couldn´t smile too much. We save this video in my brother´s iPhone as a memory of our trip to Playa del…
In the summer of 2015, my sister and I took out first trip out of the country. Only the two of us went because my parents wanted us to go to Costa Rica to meet our family and see how life is there. I had never been out of the United States, so I had only heard of how life was in Costa Rica I’ve never experienced it. I had a hard time imagining what Costa Rica looked like even though I had the power to search it on the internet. I just assumed it was just like the United States because that was what I had been accustomed to for seventeen years. However when I arrived, I encountered an environment far different from the one I had been accustomed to. In the United States we are very technology driven. I won’t lie, I am very dependant on technology…