My Trip To People Student Ambassador Program

Moving to an unfamiliar country during my teenage years is a big dramatic change for me. I dealt with a lot of anxiety and insecurities on how different I am from everyone else. To help me get started, I registered with just one class at my local community college. Living with my mother and to someone, I now call my father, I was

There are many significant parts of my life that have had a huge impact on my personality, but there is one that has not only affected me, but has changed me for the better. My personal life changing experience was coming to America. For me, this bridge between my old life and new life is a shaky bridge that I attempted to cross and entered a whole new realm of life which changed everything. The decision about coming to America has taught me how to respect other people, be more responsible, and be more loving towards various friends and families. It has also helped me adapt to the new life that I’m about to begin. It was so unexpected. Out of nowhere my parents broke the news: “We’re going to America!” Living in a big town of Bhopal,

The privilege to move to California has exposed me to many different cultures. This has allowed me to grow in many ways. The opportunity to listen and learn was there for the taking and I indulged. I now live in a neighborhood filled with people much different from myself My children's classrooms are filled with people from around the globe.  I also have a diverse group of friends that I very much enjoy and spend time with.

My move from South Korea to the United States was to this day the hardest, most stressful event of my whole entire life. At the age of six, I gave up the comfort of my friends, culture, and home to move to a country halfway across the world. Korea was everything I knew and loved. Having never set foot outside of the country, all my dreams and aspirations were set in Korea. Although I was a fickle child and my goals changed constantly, they all were intertwined with Korea. I was going to become a pianist in Korea and teach piano to students. Another time, I decided I was going to become a math teacher at the school I was attending. My view of the world was limited, but I was happy in my familiar, safe place. My move to America changed my whole perspective.

I am grateful for God who blessed me with a wonderful family that are willing to go drastic measures for me to experience lifetime opportunities. My experience of a lifetime opportunity was when I traveled out of the country for the very first time with an educational program called People to People Student Ambassadors Program. This program allowed me to travel with high school students from four different states to Greece, Italy, and Sicily for 19 days. My family and I did everything that we could do to raise money for this trip, but God always make a way and for that I'm immensely

The time I first experienced growth was when I went on my first mission trip ever, and it just so happened to be over the weekend of my 16th birthday. I did not know anyone in my group, yet we were united with a common goal to serve our community. Going into the weekend I thought I would inspire and help people, little did I know that in my own life I would be inspired. On our first day serving the community, we went to a neighborhood in Los Angeles, that had severe poverty, to help families obtain food and play with the kids. The apartments had broken windows, barely working doors, and bars to protect outsiders from coming in, yet the people were so humble and happy. All the other students in my group were either speaking Spanish to help the elders, drawing with the little kids, or playing soccer. My new friend Alec told me to join the soccer game, so I did. I was put on a team with my new friend Kevin, and two brothers named Diego and Jesse. Half way through the game my competitive side grew and i began to feel less restrained, so I kicked harder. I ended up kicking the ball so hard it hit little 5 year old Jesse in the head, I felt remorse. Jesse surprised me with a huge smile as to say,’

I have had a plethora of unique life experiences, many of which have happened in the last couple years of my life. In the past three years I have traveled to Guatemala, all over Germany, and Hawaii. During the summer of my freshman year of High School, I went on a missions trip to Guatemala. My church took 10 boys, and 10 girls; we spent a total of a week in a small impoverished town called . I believe that this trip allowed me, for the first time, to see, and be enveloped in a new culture. During the trip I ate new foods, played new games, and learned about the Guatemalan culture. I was able to spend time with all of the local kids, and learn how to respect a new culture. Then, this last summer, I was able to take a part in a German Exchange program with my school. After taking 3 years of German in High School, I was one of twenty people selected to go on a three-week long exchange program in Germany. The trip consisted of a week traveling with the 20 people chosen to go. The other two weeks were spent living with my host family and German partner. During my stay there I visited Berlin, Munich, Cologne, and traveled to the Netherlands. This was another chance for me to experience a new culture, and to further my German speaking skills. However, more importantly, it allowed me to make lifelong friends in another part of the world. About a month after I got back from Germany, my family went on a 12 day vacation to Hawaii. During my time there I had the opportunity to do a

Growing up moving between New Jersey and Puerto Rico has exposed me to diverse beliefs, languages, and history. When I was young my parents separated and as a result my mother relocated us to New Jersey. Thus, I learned English and interacted with many people from various backgrounds. In New Jersey, I was a girl scout for several years, and my experience in girl scouts has taught me valuable teamwork and leadership skills. Constantly switching between two places has made me a very open minded and curious person. It’s also given me an opportunity to develop my social and communication skills.

After a short while, it became a bit of a family tradition to take trips down to the sandy beaches of Mexico, and see what new things we could discover. Yet, that wasn't enough for my father, so when I turned eight, my parents sold everything, bought a sailboat, and we moved aboard. Having grown up abroad, seeing new people, learning how to speak Spanish, adapting to new cultures, my childhood overseas has given me the chance to see the earth from a whole new perspective.

Initially, I was surprised someone noticed potential in me and my future. When the time came to go on the trip, I was terrified because I was by myself and as an introvert, I struggle to explain myself to others. Often leading to misunderstandings, but once I arrived I felt welcomed and include almost immediately. Perhaps, it was the fact that many people there

This experience has led me to take a giant leap of faith and explore an entire continent by myself. I studied abroad in Florence, Italy in my

Cultural immersion has always been a desire of mine and joining a team of Broward College students and Faculty was my first true experience. I had traveled many times before with family but I adamantly believe that this trip set the tone for my intentions to travel. My first trip over the Atlantic was to Rome, Italy after watching Angels & Demons. I begged my mother to let me have a Tom Hanks moment in my life. There, the only Italians I met were the one taking my food orders or collecting my tour tickets. Part of the program in Mexico was to have daily conversations with people around the city. We had to get lost and find our way back by asking for directions, we had to learn how to send something in the post, if we needed our clothes washed

The experience had made me into the person that I am today was having the opportunity to move out of Hawaii to finish my senior year at Penn high school in Mishawaka, Indiana. Leaving my family, close friends behind in Hawaii was hard at first but I had learn a lot while being away. I really like all the clubs, classes and everything that Penn high school had to offer and I really like living in the Michiana area that I had decided stay here for college. I never had thoughts of leaving my parents behind and move 4,261 miles away for school but the decision to move here might had been the best decision that I had ever made. I was depending a lot on my parents when I was in Hawaii and being alone in another state had taught me how to take care

Since I moved around so often, due to my mother and step father being military, traveling has become like second nature to me. However, all that moving never truly affected my schooling. For that reason I was always accepted and joined all types of clubs and groups. I personally enjoyed all of them, but I loved the art club and the athletic training group I’m currently in. Both allow me to express my emotions and do what I love and adore most. I love drawing and helping others heal. And I also met a lot of good people, that help inspire me. During the summer time I was allowed to express my love for traveling and gaining knowledge other cultures. The first time I went out of the country was to Jamaica, it was so striking and stunning, it was exploding with creativity and music. I’ve also been to Hawaii, Switzerland, Germany, and Italy. Also I went to favorite state, California. That was one of my favorite excursions. That was where I visited a makeup designory

Realising this experience, through self-funding, took hard work and organisation as I worked doing odd jobs, sold cakes in a wide variety of venues, appealed to businesses for support and ran community quizzes. Achieving this goal took determination, but I have always been profoundly interested in how foreign cultures and societies operate, so I persevered. Being the youngest person in the team, I had to be independent and this helped me to work on my communication skills. Whilst there, I experienced many aspects of life from talking to the children and staff at the orphanage to helping at the hospital, it has also been interesting to me to find out about the political and economic situation of the country and the impact at a local level. This trip drastically changed my view of the world and inspired me to want to find out more about how life can be improved for people living in developing