Ecuador and Applications

Hi Friends! This will be my last post before I leave! I wanted to share my application essay, or rather poem, and some of its background. I hope you enjoy it!

So the Around-the-World (ATW) program has an application process including an essay and interview. I have been dreaming of going on ATW since I learned about it my junior year of high school, so I probably tried harder than I needed to try to get into the program. I started asking people about it even before starting college so I knew all the next steps I had to take. I set up appointments with the woman in charge of the abroad programs and the professor who started the ATW program within a month of starting classes. As the year went on, I continued to do as much as I could to get information from past students and attend events.

Once it was time to apply, I still wasn’t sure if I had done enough to set myself apart as a good candidate for the trip, so knowing that our lead professor for the trip was an English professor, I decided to write my essay as a poem. Not only did it seem unique to me, but it also helped me to squeeze more information into 500 words, and I didn’t have to use complete sentences. That is always a win.

The prompt was to write about previous trip or experience, so I wrote about my time in Pacoche, Ecuador. Through my high school, I was blessed to have the opportunity to travel to Ecuador two separate occasions both my sophomore and senior year. We traveled to Riobamba my sophomore year, and then my senior year, the team returned to Pacoche, a city on the coast that they went to the year before. This town! It really made an impact on me. I love the people there, and well, just read the poem. I don’t love sharing my poetry, but I thought it would be fun to share a little bit about my previous travels and give you insight into where my mind was at.

Pacoche

There’s no way I could pick a single moment

Of my time spent on this trip

That could truly capture the essence

Of the love and joy I found in Pacoche, Ecuador.

500 words can’t cover 20 pages of journal entries

Or even begin to touch on all the memories,

So I feel like this is risky, but I hope that in this poem,

You’ll be able to see more of my emotions and my heart.

I had fallen in love with Ecuador two years before

On another trip to different areas with different faces.

The next year I didn’t go, but I heard the stories from friends

And knew in my heart that God was pulling me back.

My classmates, teachers, friends—these were my team.

We came together, new and old, all ready for the adventure.

Contributing whatever skills and support we could,

We prepared, travelled, and arrived in excitement.

Upon walking into the halfway-started house we’d be working on,

I met the man who’d be the owner and the teenage boys who’d help build it.

Looking at these boys’ faces who I’d heard so much about,

I suddenly felt like a part of the community and like it was a second home.

Building a house was new, but we had Pete, Pastor Fabian, and the boys.

They showed us each step, and we worked with them in the heat:

Moving, mixing, digging, laying, sweating…smiling, laughing, singing.

It was pure joy and fulfillment to work according to Colossians 3:23.

The home was for Cervillo, whose life had been hard.

He was diabetic, losing his vision, unable to work, and aging,

Yet devoted, loving, and faithful, as he continued to serve.

He had prayed for his own house for 10 years—God answers prayers.

Building a house was great, but building relationships was better.

How I love the teens in Pacoche, their servant hearts, and our memories:

Playing volley and soccer, eating meals, singing, exchanging new words

And best—hearing God’s word, sharing testimonies, and growing in faith!

The fellowship with the community in Christ still takes my breath sometimes.

The church was simple and miserably hot, yet so full of God’s presence;

Even in little things like the donkey in the churchyard on Palm Sunday

And washing one another’s feet like Jesus did on Maundy Thursday.

I saw God work through the people of Pacoche.

Through them, I’ve learned to see Him more in everyone I meet.

As we left, Pastor Fabian told me to keep shining God’s light,

And I only hope I can be an example like they were to me.

I want to continue to see the world and have my eyes opened.

I’ve learned much about others like my team and the people I met,

Also about myself and God, but there is so much more to know, 

So like the words of Isaiah 6:8, I’m now saying, “Here am I! Send me.”

So there it is, and another cool thing. So God-moments—things that seem like a coincidence, but you know are more than that. Well I had one of those when I was writing this. I am Facebook friends with a few of the boys in Pacoche and had talked with them some after coming back to the United States, but it had been months since I had contacted or heard from any of them. About halfway through writing this though, my phone buzzed and I looked at it to see a message simply saying ‘hola’ from one of the boys. I had a fun time as I completed writing the poem as I tried to recall Spanish to have a conversation. I am awestruck at how God works in the littlest things, just like he did in that moment.

Well that is it: my last post until after we leave. I’m sitting in the LAX airport right now as I work to edit this post, and thinking about how excited I am to start giving updates on the trip rather than just pre-trip information. Basically I’m just excited to get started! So here’s to my 13 hour flight and hopefully, an update from China soon!

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