It is often in the strangest of places where we are hit with waves of inspiration, passion, or wisdom. This story, I hope, inspires you to keep your eyes open because you never know where the best things can be found.

I decided to study abroad in Costa Rica for a number of reasons, but one very big one was for its renowned nature. Ending my sophomore year of college in the spirit of triple majoring (because picking just one major was insane), I was at a standstill, a loss in what to do with my life.

I looked to Costa Rica as a place I could climb a mountain and there— looking at the luscious green valleys— I would know what I was going to do with my life.

I climbed many mountains and took in many breath-taking views. But none compared to the experience I had with a dog at a homeless shelter. I had almost not gone that day because I was tired and had homework to do, but I decided “why not?” and piled into the van that would lead us to the shelter. I walked many dogs before I noticed the muscular, orange female in jaula (cage) #1.

She was very scared when I approached her cage and it took me all of fifteen minutes to get the leash around her neck, which kept burying itself in the underneath side of my squatted knees.

I led her out slowly. She cringed every time another dog made a noise. When we got outside the shelter gates, we walked together and she did her business. After a little walking, we decided to run.

It wasn’t till we stopped that I realized she had a skin condition. In between fur, patches of black skin had turned grey crusted over with flaps of skin that were falling away. It looked terribly painful and itchy.

I was afraid to touch it at first, having heard of a study-abroader who came back from the shelter with lice— but I got over myself and began scooping the dry scabs off and scratching away the dandruff left behind. I know it sounds disgusting— and it was at first— but cleaning the dandruff off the coat of that dog brought me the mountaintop experience I never found on any actual mountain. It's like all of the frustration and anxiety I had let myself swim in (over deciding what I would major in along with the host of worries of a twenty-year-old) melted away and I was dry again.

So as I cleaned her matted fur, that dog cleaned out the worries inside of me.

I know it sounds strange and a little insane, but more beautiful things have been found in even stranger places. It makes me anxious to discover more.

It wasn’t like I was hit with a sign that told me exactly what to major in or what to do after college, but I knew I had come to Costa Rica, looking for redemption from the view of a mountaintop, and I found it in the dandruff of a dog.

I learned to keep my eyes open because clarity, passion, wisdom, and so many other good things can be found in the most unlikely places.