When I first arrived at the Pre Departure Training (PDT) of Global Citizen Year I thought that I was in this program for all the visible reasons. I thought I was well prepared for it due to my prior UWC experience and I pictured them as the same. However little did I know that even though both programs had a lot of similar values, they differed majorly in the delivery process. This is something that made me feel suspense that created a sharp feeling of fear. This feeling was new to my interpretation of the experience and the lingering question that remained within me was if I was to embrace this feeling.
Before PDT, I pictured the program as a cultural exchange program, one that enabled me have a peek into Latin American culture, which I have always admired with a lot of curiosity. As I evaluated my experience I focused more on the program than my involvement with the program. I conveniently excluded myself from the evaluation in terms of what was this year was really going to be about as it occurred to me that I was to learn more and I knew Nothing at all and I was there simply to absorb.
With all the different talks and the interactions from PDT, I was more confused than composed about what this experience was to me. Most of the advice that we got during PDT was about living in the now in teenage language known as You Only Live Once (YOLO). With all this confusion I thought to myself that at least I had learnt one important factor which was what this program was to mean for me and this was self-evaluation, how I react to my surroundings, the people around me and how do surroundings affect me personally. With this in mind I knew that I was going to be grounded while in Ecuador I am not sure for how long and how strong this mindset will last, but all this confusion will not kill my vibe because I still remain with high level anxiety levels till the day I arrive in Ecuador and with my life motto flying high #YOLOSWAGIDOWHATIWANT.
