If three years ago someone would have told me what I would be doing now, I would have laughed and never believed it. Three years ago I was majoring in Political Science and was too scared to spend a semester studying abroad. The only traveling I had ever done was while on nice vacations, and I was pretty content with my life in North Carolina. After spending one summer doing summer school, I knew I should do something more interesting the following summer, and figured I would spend the summer studying in Europe, like what most of my friends were doing.
Yet a friend told me about her experience with World Camp and after hearing her stories I knew it was what I wanted to do. I had recently changed my major to elementary education and this opportunity just seemed to fit perfectly. I was a little nervous to go to Africa but I knew it would be more interesting than another summer of summer school.
The time I spent in Malawi with World Camp was an absolutely amazing, life changing experience. My time there made me look at the person I was and think about the person I wanted to be. So many aspects of the experience contributed to this self-evaluation, from my interactions with the students and people in the villages, to the things I saw, to the vast knowledge I acquired about real poverty in a Third World country and the fight against HIV/AIDS.
The people I met were especially influential, both the Malawians and the other volunteers. I met so many people with interesting stories and fascinating life experiences. Hearing these accounts of extensive traveling, meeting people of all different cultures and backgrounds, and really seeing what the world was like made me question what I was doing with my life and I what I wanted to do with my life. All of the Malawians and other volunteers I met were such diverse, interesting, and amazing people and really made my World Camp experience very meaningful.
Within days of returning from Malawi, I knew I wanted and needed to go somewhere again after graduation. I had got a taste of what the world was like and all the different people out there. World Camp gave me the confidence and the desire to want to move to a developing country. A few months after World Camp, I was hired as a 1st grade teacher at a school in the Dominican Republic and moved here in July 2010. I also volunteer at an activity center for street kids, and one program I have helped start is an HIV Education program. Living and working in a developing country is a challenge every day, but I absolutely love it and will likely be here for years to come.
I am so thankful to World Camp for opening up my horizons and really helping to change the course of my life. Without my experiences in Malawi with World Camp, I am 100% certain I would not be where I am today.
Submitted by: Sarah Gleason, WC Alumni 2009
**Part III in a series of impressions and memories of volunteering with World Camp. Please email submissions to info@worldcampforkids.org or katy@worldcampforkids.org. Journal entries & emails/letters home during your experience, pictures, etc. are encouraged!**
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