There are 195 countries in the world and I have spent 19 years of my life (besides being born in a different country) in the United States. I've been to different states, but I want to know what it is like to not be an American or influenced by American culture.

Over thousands of years, countries have impacted each other in such powerful and substantial ways, but no country is the same as another. I think everybody should have the opportunity to travel to different countries and really experience the differences and learn about the true culture, first hand. With discovery and understanding of how other people live their lives, the opportunities I have here compared to what others have, I think that it would help everyone to appreciate life more and give more significance to why equality is so important.

If I am given the opportunity to travel to a different country, I want to gain as much knowledge as I can about that place and the lives of the people who live there. I want to be inspired and connected with their culture, almost as though I live there myself. I want to inspire others, maybe teach eventually, and take thousands of photos of these places. I want to show the rest of the world just how beautiful but self-destructive a country could possibly be to itself. In America, there is always something bad happening, whether on the news or just in our everyday lives. There is also a lot of good, but it seems as though nobody cares about the good. I want to be able to witness those events somewhere else; if they do even happen wherever I may go.

With a general understanding of how people live their different lives, I can better understand why we do what we do, as human beings. Whether taught by others or learned from influences, I believe knowing more will help me to open my eyes and maybe even see things that we can change in our own lives, or in the lives of everybody else in the world, if we just SHOW the rest of the world.