Grow Through What You Go Through: The beginning!!

Yay! I am so excited to post all my fun experiences and adventures on here for you all! But before I start talking about this week I would just like to thank all of you who have helped me be able to accomplish my goal of coming here to ROMANIA! Couldn’t have done it without you! :)

For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to work in an orphanage, it has always been a dream of mine!! During my Fall 2017 semester I started thinking a lot about what the next few years of my life were going to look like. As I thought about my dreams and ambitions the thought about traveling abroad and working in an orphanage came up again, with my major being early childhood special ed at BYUI I found this dream to be even more of a possible adventure for me! I started talking to teachers and other students in my major about any opportunities they have come across that may be possible for me to do. One day after classes I came home to a flyer left at my apartment. It was for a program called ILP - International Language Program- and it mentioned working with children abroad to teach them English! There was a meeting being held the next day and lunch was provided (double bonus!! Free food, haha my fav!) During the meeting they mentioned 3 destinations they offered where you actually worked in orphanages; Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Romania! This sparked my attention even more! As they continued to talk about their program one of the ladies shared her experience of working in Romania, it was the only program that didn't teach English but instead worked with special needs children! My heart was overwhelmed with joy when I heard this!! This opportunity was exactly what I was looking for! It was an experience that would help me grow stronger as a person, learn more about what I am wanting to do for a job in the future, and an opportunity that I may not get later in life! The only downside was that it was the most expensive trip out of all the ones offered. I knew that if I wanted to make this trip work and still be able to pay for college the following semester I would need to find a better summer job than my usual lifeguarding job (which I loved!!). As I was looking for higher paying jobs, one of my friends told me about her husband’s summer sales job and the great success he had had the previous summer. If I did well, this job would help cover the cost of the trip, but I would have to be in Utah, away from home all summer, and I would be walking around door to door each day selling pest control. I did not want to be away from home all summer but decided that this was my best option if I wanted to cover the cost of my trip and college. I had no idea what I was getting myself into! Summer sales was the most difficult job and the most rewarding job I have ever had! Although there were many tears shed I am so grateful I pushed through the hard times and stuck with the job all the way to the end! I grew stronger as a person and because all I went through and learned this summer it made this trip to Romania even more special! I am so grateful for all that I have learned up to this point and all that I will continue to learn as embark and this next chapter of my life!

If you want to follow along with me on this new adventure of mine I will be sharing my experiences here on this blog for the next 4 months!!