I want you all to close your eyes for a minute. I want you to picture yourself walking through a rainforest. It’s dense and green and hot and sunny. You walk along this trail until you reach the end and…
When I first got to Puerto Rico, I noticed a deep sense of pride from everyone there. At first, I thought it was nationalism; a pride for one’s country, for an ideal, for a flag. And as an American, I…
I have taken Spanish classes in school for seven years, but the first time I had to translate for our group in Puerto Rico, I looked like a deer in headlights. In that moment, I learned very quickly that there…
The first day we arrived at the work site, Margarette gave us a short tour of the facility that we would be involved with for the next few days. Techos Pa’ Mi Gente had their main facility set up in…
I remember being overwhelmed by smells and looking up to see locals looking down at the crowd from their lit-up balconies. The 500-year-old architecture and historic cobblestone streets were comically and tastefully juxtaposed with the Coca-Cola-themed parade and a local…
Back at home in Wausau, WI, my family is a part of a medium-sized Presbyterian church. It’s your classic Midwestern church with lots of old white folks who have lived in the area for decades, people who sing old hymns…
I love fireplaces! I really do. I love the heat and comfort they provide. I love the crackles and hisses of fireplaces. I knew that when I left home for Wisconsin, one of the luxuries I would miss the most…
When I came to campus last year, I had all the same worries that I assume our first-years probably have this year. I moved around a lot as a child, but always had my family at the end of the…
A year ago, I arrived on this campus for the first time. As an international student coming from China, everything just felt so new. As I looked around in the Uber heading to my dorm from the airport, I noticed…
"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying…