People tend to get lost throughout their daily routines. School, work, repeat. It is exhausting, yet we never seem to take a break. We are always worried about some little detail in our lives. Looks, social life, grades, resumes, relationships, internships, etc. The sad thing is I have been drowning in all of this with little concern about what else is happening around me. I have been selfish.

Last spring I attended an interest meeting to travel to Nicaragua on a missions trip during winter break and I was immediately sold. My mother was not so happy about the idea of me traveling to a third world country, especially if it meant me coming home a week later than expected for winter break but if anyone knows me, I don’t take no as an answer very easily. I am a person who refuses to stay in one place and Nicaragua became next on the list. As I began the process of booking the trip, it came as a surprise to me how much negativity I was receiving.

Why waste your break? Why would you want to go to Nicaragua? You’re going to hate it. It’s not your thing.

Here is why.

For the past 19 years of my life, I have been extremely selfish. I have been fortunate enough to be healthy, have a roof over my head, be surrounded by supportive friends and family, and get an education. These are the things I take for granted. These are the things that are tucked in the back of my mind and I never care to show an appreciation for yet I am so damn lucky.

With life being so hectic I have forgotten what it means to slow down. I go crazy if I don’t have an agenda full of things to do and I am not the only one. I worry about if my makeup and hair looks, OK. I worry about if that person feels the same way. I worry about things that haven't and may not ever happen. This is the world we live in and I am drowning in it. This trip is my chance. This is the reality check I need.

I am going to a place where people don’t have access to the medicine and doctors that we do. They do not have a stable roof over their heads or a guaranteed three meals a day. They do not have the ability to receive an education remotely equivalent to what we have. They will never have the privileges that we are given, and we will never know the struggles that they face. The way we survive will never be equivalent to the way they survive.

Yes, I’ve heard the speech before, not everyone can be as lucky as you. Exactly, and that is why I need this trip. I need to see everything that someone does not have in order to appreciate my life a little more and to care a little less about the things in my life, which will be so insignificant in five years. I will not remember the name of the person I met at that party or that Biology exam I failed, however, I will remember Nicaragua.

So, yes. I am choosing to shorten my winter break in order for me to travel to Nicaragua.

This trip will change my life.