Was it all a Dream..

Was it all a dream…

I woke up this morning to the familiar sounds of my dad watching the news along with the scent of left over coffee my mom tends to leave behind as she rushes off to work. Was it just last week I was standing awestruck in front of the Grand Canyon, watching a purple sunset over the Arizona mountain tops, or perhaps it was just yesterday I was performing in Mexico for hundreds with screaming cheers for “Viva la Gente” in the crowd. Or perhaps, it was all a dream, because there is no way six months could fly by that fast.

My eyes are still a bit swollen from crying yesterday as me and my brown beat-up leather book bag boarded the plane waving good bye to the ones I now call family. I will never forget these people, the trials we endured, and challenges we overcame together. Some of them I will see in a month, others that may be the last time our paths cross. But I am so thankful I met and got to know each and every one of those 90 students from all around the world. Without Josimar from the Caribbean I would not know how to salsa dance. Without Yui from Japan I would never have had the courage to get on stage and speak in front of thousands. Without Yan from China I would have never learned to speak a totally different language. And without all 90 I would not be the person I am today, a person I can be proud to be, with experiences I couldn’t trade for the world.

Although I now close the Up With People chapter in my life, the lessons I’ve learned will live on and echo through out everything I do from here on out. This program didn’t turn me into someone different, it just helped mold me into who I truly am and prepared me for all the amazing things I have left to do with my life.