When a once in a lifetime opportunity comes your way, would you take it?  For three and a half weeks in July of 2016, Jaylin Ciccone and Daejean Collins went to Peru and Bolivia, alongside the World Affairs Council, to learn more about the culture and leadership skills.  Señora McVeagh informed the two students of the opportunity and assisted them throughout the entire application process.  The application process was not only stressful, but made the participants think deeply about the problems in their community. They had to write three long essays, two short essays, and they had an interview that was based around how they could become a leader in their community.

The highlights of the trip for Jaylin and Dae were being able to experience the culture and meet other teenagers who had the same mindset as them.  Each participant on the trip was assigned a homestay family that speaks no English and was to watch after them.

The language barrier between the teenagers and home stay families not only helped their Spanish, but allowed them to dive even deeper into the culture.  Both of their favorite parts of the trips were the host families.  The host families of every participant threw a picnic at the end of their trip in Peru.  The picnic included traditional Peruvian food cooked underground.  They were placed in between two large mountains during the picnic which was a truly beautiful view for them to see.

Dae and Jaylin both experienced an epiphany when they arrived home.  They realized just how big the world is and that time does not stop just because you are not there.  Dae also learned that even though he was being put outside of his comfort zone, he as a person did not change.  His reclusive personality stayed despite going out everyday and experiencing the cultures of Peru and Bolivia.  

After the trip, all of the teenagers had to do a Community Action Project (CAP).  The point of the project was to identify an issue in their community and create a plan to fix it.  Jaylin identified the problem that Pittsburgh has with the amount of people living on the street.  In order to help them, Jaylin is planning to do a clothing drive in the High School to give to the homeless.  She thought that that was not enough and is also planning on gathering some of her friends and going to a soup kitchen.  

In Peru and Bolivia, Dae noticed an astounding amount of graffiti on buildings, streets, bridges, and homes. He learned that the graffiti is not all done illegally.  Some store owners will pay graffiti artists to paint their buildings.  When he arrived home, he noticed in his own words, the lack of beauty in our school.  He identified this as an issue for his CAP and plans on painting rooms in the school.  To accomplish this, he has gathered a list of rooms to paint and is currently raising money and setting a schedule to be able to do this.  

Overall, Jaylin and Dae thoroughly enjoyed this incredible experience.  They loved every single part of the trip and have been inspired to travel even more in the future.  They both recommend this trip to all.  Your whole worldview changes for the better they concluded.  They both agree that the trip was one of the best decisions they have ever made.