Orientation Day 3:

Today was just another solid day of orientation, but nothing stands out more than seeing Liza and Jacky (Liza Talusan is the Director of Intercultural Affairs at Stonehill College and Jacqueline Guzman is the Assistant Director). Liza has been a major influence and role model since my freshmen year of college. Seeing her today made me realize how far I've come in life. A few years ago I would have never imagined that I would have gone to college and graduated, a year ago I would have never imagined that I would be doing a year of service in Honduras. Jacky provided great support and encouragement during the process of deciding whether or not to go with the program, especially because she had gone through some of the same issues I was going through. Seeing them today just gave me that final push of encouragement that I needed.

Orientation Day 1

Today I arrived on campus with my parents for the first day of orientation. I’m glad that they were able to take part because for the first time they were able to meet the great people whom I will be spending the year with.  They were also able to hear the great experiences from the returning volunteers, which definitely made a huge impact, especially after all the “danger” concerns. Most importantly, the parent orientation gave me what I had been looking for all these months, which was my mothers’ 100% approval. I think she finally realized why I wanted to do this after meeting and talking with all the loving-great people that are involved in the program. I finally felt at peace and more than ever ready to go.

Why...

I’m usually the type of person that is against anything that has to do with blogging, but I’ve decided to go against that for the purpose of this yearlong journey. For those who are clueless: (Long story short) I will be doing a year of service in Guaimaca, Honduras alongside Matthew Rigby and Christina Martone. To learn more about the mission visit the Facebook page:

 Guaimaca Mission Honduras