Well children, sit tight and prepare for a story. This will be a long, ongoing, and often challenging, tale of a young woman from suburban Illinois checking her privilege and going out (far out) into the world to try to do some good.
A little bit about me, I grew up going to church every Sunday, mission trips every summer, along with camp, and a very devoted and philanthropic family. This has instilled in me the desire to serve in many ways. I love devoting my life and my time to serving others and lifting burdens off of others. This led me to fall in love with working at Walt Disney World once I graduated college.
Working at Disney is exhausting, rewarding, harsh, and happy and so many other conflicting things. But at the core of it all, I dedicated every day to making guests' lives easier and putting smiles on their faces. But why was I dedicating my life to those who already have so much in life? This was the question I came back to over and over again throughout my year, and I really struggled to answer it.
The past few years I had battled with keeping my faith as an active part of my life. Not that I doubted my faith, but just making sure I was reserving that time to reaffirm it throughout my day, week, or year. My senior year of college, I was sent a link to the Young Adults in Global Mission program and it seemed like the perfect combination of reaffirming faith and going out into the world and serving others. I thought now was as good a time as any, as I was a recently dumped woman, without having put in too much time into my job, and already being adjusted to living away from home.
Through the crazy extensive application process and a whirlwind of country placements, my life has led me to now, the week before I hop on a plane for Africa (AFRICA!!) with friends I have only just met. The enormity of what I am about to do is exciting and so, so overwhelming. But Children, we're just getting started.
A little bit about me, I grew up going to church every Sunday, mission trips every summer, along with camp, and a very devoted and philanthropic family. This has instilled in me the desire to serve in many ways. I love devoting my life and my time to serving others and lifting burdens off of others. This led me to fall in love with working at Walt Disney World once I graduated college.
Working at Disney is exhausting, rewarding, harsh, and happy and so many other conflicting things. But at the core of it all, I dedicated every day to making guests' lives easier and putting smiles on their faces. But why was I dedicating my life to those who already have so much in life? This was the question I came back to over and over again throughout my year, and I really struggled to answer it.
The past few years I had battled with keeping my faith as an active part of my life. Not that I doubted my faith, but just making sure I was reserving that time to reaffirm it throughout my day, week, or year. My senior year of college, I was sent a link to the Young Adults in Global Mission program and it seemed like the perfect combination of reaffirming faith and going out into the world and serving others. I thought now was as good a time as any, as I was a recently dumped woman, without having put in too much time into my job, and already being adjusted to living away from home.
Through the crazy extensive application process and a whirlwind of country placements, my life has led me to now, the week before I hop on a plane for Africa (AFRICA!!) with friends I have only just met. The enormity of what I am about to do is exciting and so, so overwhelming. But Children, we're just getting started.