The worth of billions

Today I was given a challenge, by one of my dearest friends and he told me to think about the experiences that I've had in UWP that are invaluable and write them down. I accepted his challenge with open arms and what follows are just a few of the experiences I've had this semester that I couldn't be more thankful for in no specific order.

The experiences that have touched me a lot mostly involve conversations with people that have either helped me through a tough situation, opened my mind to a new perspective or challenged me to think critically about what I believe.

I recently had a host mom that had very strong faith. She would wake up every morning and sit on the couch reading her bible and just spending quality time with the Lord. She talked to me about her faith and we shared our commonalities in the area but things didn't really go deeper on the subject until my last moments with her. On our way to host drop off we had this in depth conversation about God and his love and it was exactly what I needed in that moment. Little did she know that I was struggling greatly in that department but yet she was still able to say exactly what I needed to hear...it was such a beautiful moment.

Another moment that really touched me during the semester was a bus date I had with one of our students and he shared one of the qualities that he really admires in a person. That quality was the ability to not be easily derailed emotionally by people or situations. When he said that it dawned on me that I was the kind of person that was very easily emotionally bothered or derailed by situations and people and that's not  the kind of person that I wanted to be. In that moment I decided that I wanted to change and I wanted to be the kind of person that really thought before reacting even if it's just an intern emotional reaction. I think that if we wouldn't have had that conversation I wouldn't have realized this about myself until much later in life.

When we first went to Mexico this semester, to say that I wasn't excited at all would be the understatement of the year. I just couldn't get into the excitement and swing of Mexico and I was dreading spending six weeks in the country. Luckily for me, my original host family cancelled and I ended up being hosted with the most welcoming and loving family I've ever met. The minute I met my host mom she hugged me and told me how excited she was that I was there and how beautiful she thought I was. From that moment on every single member of that family loved me like I was blood and even though there was a language barrier between myself and my host mom we were still able to build this amazing connection.My host brother and sisters were so much fun to be around and such wonderful youth filled with character and integrity and that was so refreshing to be around.  I am so looking forward to the day when I can visit them and spend more quality family time with them.

Those are just three of the many moments that have impacted me this semester. I am blown away by the life that I lead and the amount of people I am able to come into contact with. Though it is so hard to say goodbye the impact and lasting connections that are built make it all worth it.

-Nik XOxo