Reflection by Megan Cerbin

I’ve seen it all on this trip, rolling hills of emerald green stretched as far as the eye can see, misty mountains surrounded by endless icy, blue sky, and ancient castles, stunning in their design and brimming with history. The views never get less breathtaking.

I’ve done it all on this trip, repelled down the side of a castle wall about 100 feet above the ground, white water rafted down a rushing river, scaled up rough rocks at Giant’s Causeway. The experiences never get any less thrilling, exhilarating, and nerve-wracking.

With everything I’ve seen and done on this trip, I can’t help but count it as one of the best experiences of my life. That’s the thing, though; this trip has affected so much more than just my life. This trip has, in some way, touched the lives of anyone that has come into contact with it.

Just look at the people on the trip, for example. At the beginning we were all complete strangers, all with our own lives, friends, and interests. If we ever walked by each other on the street I can honestly say that we would have passed by without a friendly word, a nod, or a smile. This trip has changed all of that, though. It’s brought together completely different people in the bonds of friendship, friendship which I can safely say will last a lifetime. The fact that I can become such good friends with people I ordinarily never would have spoken to makes me think. If I can become such good friends with all of these people, what’s to say I can’t become friends with other people that are different from my usual friend, too? The next time I pass someone on the street that I ordinarily wouldn’t be friends with, I’ll make sure to give a friendly word, nod, and smile.

The lives of those within the group were not the only ones that we touched, though. Look at our service day in Cahersiveen. All of us helped to cut peat to be given to the elderly to help heat their houses, and then some of us went on to do work weeding, playing with children, working at the charity shop, working with social services, or where I found myself, volunteering with the elderly. We started by singing a couple of songs to them, and then I found myself and my new friend, Kayla, from South Carolina, acting as the bingo callers for them. At the end of the four fill up games we played with them, after about an hour had passed, we had to stop and I found myself wishing that I could stay and play some more games with them.

It wasn’t just on that day that we helped people, though. Every time we go out of our way to help the bus driver, the hotel staff, the delegation manager or leaders, or just a stranger, we leave an irrevocable impression, like a footprint forever encased in cement. This trip has been all about leaving good footprints and helping other people.

There is so much that this trip has done for everyone. We learned to accept the differences in people and that different isn’t necessarily bad; it’s just that, different. We discovered the joy that comes from helping people, be it in big or little ways. I can safely say that everyone will take what they learned on this trip and implement it throughout the rest of their lives.

In the end, this trip wasn’t about the scenery or the thrilling experiences; as amazing as they were, they were just a backdrop to what the trip was really about. This trip was about learning about both others and yourself, and how you can be a better person and help other people to become better people, too.

While I began both this trip and this story with an I, I’ll end with a we. We have all been positively touched form this trip. We have all learned lessons that will lead us through life. We have all created bonds of friendship that will last a lifetime. We are the catalysts to see President Eisenhower’s dream for a world of peace through to the end. We are the future. We are People to People Student Ambassadors of 2011.