Fears, Challenges and Opportunities to Grow and Change as a Person

Question 1: What is your biggest fear going into this experience?
      "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," said Franklin D Roosevelt. My biggest fear going into this experience is not being able to handle my emotions after seeing how hard the childrens' lives are. I have heard so many stories of how the children in the developing countries touched the volunteers' lives and how much the volunteers' have touched the children's lives. I am afraid that I won't help them as much as I would like or make an impact on their lives. When I first heard about this program, my ultimate goal was to change the childrens' lives for the better and make them feel loved.  This fear is not because I won't reach my goal, but because any child's life and their happiness is important to me, especially the children who live in harsh conditions. I am determined to do anything I can to make the children in Nicaragua feel loved and cared for.

Question 2: What do you think will be the most challenging part of this experience?
     Some people have challenges that are unbelievably difficult to live through and deal with. I am extremely lucky that I do not live in harsh condition like the children in Nicaragua, but I will still face challenges while I am there. The most difficult challenge that I think I will face in this experience is leaving Nicaragua and saying good-bye to all of the children and people there. From the stories I have heard, all of the volunteers have made a deep connection with many of the children they met in the developing countries. When you connect with people very deeply it is extremely hard to say good bye, especially when you know that you will never see them again. I imagine that leaving Nicaragua and the children there will be like saying good bye to my family members forever.

Question 3: In what ways do you think you will change?

      During this experience I think that I will change immensely. With an experience like this I will see how the people in the poorest countries live and what they do to survive. It will definitely be emotionally challenging for me and I will feel much sympathy for the children and people living in Nicaragua. For that reason I hope to change to become a better person and will look at my life and others around me a lot differently. I also hope that this experience will change my views on the world. After this experience I hope to appreciate more that I have and will understand other peoples lives a little more clearly. Many people have very little and are excited or happy when they have two meals a day instead of one. These are the kinds of conditions that I believe I will be seeing in Nicaragua. Therefore when I am back to my life I will certainly be more thankful for all of the things I have. Once I'm home, I will never end my journey of trying to make an impact on the world or in my small community.