“I’ve learned that people may forget what you said, they may forget what you did, but they will never forget how you make them feel.”
This was the quote that lingered within me as leader throughout the day. Seeing how our group has evolved from being a group of teenagers who didn’t know anything about each other to trusting one another to catch us if we fall. Today would be the perfect example of us as a group expressing our trust for one another. Our day started with us going to Quiero Mas for breakfast (as usual) with some delicious beans and eggs. From there, some of us went out on some errands to pick us the last of the supplies to finish up our CAP project at Los Pocitos. Since the errands took longer than expected, it caused multiple “road bumps” throughout the rest of the day.
Once we arrived (late) at Los Pocitos, we rushed out of the bus to get to our stations and finish with the remaining time we had left. There was 5 hours left on the clock for us to finish what seemed like more than half of what we planned. As stressful as the situation seems, I personally felt calm through the slips and slides that our group tended to experience such as: people kicking over paint cans, communication errors, lacking time management, etc. As leader of the day, I felt it was my responsibility to tend to peoples needs and making sure that even in these times of chaos they have a person that they know they can call on for help or a person that they know who really cares about them. So throughout the day I tried my best to go to each station around the community and tend to peoples needs in order to complete the entire project. As I traveled from station to station, I noticed something spectacular. I noticed that everyone was working their butts off to complete each task. This was the first time I saw every single person in our group giving it their all and showing an immense amount of passion for the project that we planned for this community. I noticed every single one of us using our individual talents to give back to the community from Adrianna staying with the communities youth and entertaining them to Danny standing out in the burning sun to finish the outside mural. Everyone’s potential really showed today, and I’m sure everyone saw it one way or another.
As we began to leave Los Pocitos, there were many emotional goodbyes, but the bus ride back and the music that Ally sang to us on the bus on it really cheered people up. Since we stayed overtime at Los Pocitos, we were late for our English tutoring. However the students didn’t seem to mind. As our day came to a close, we wrapped it up with our nightly meeting and closed it of with our BIG loves <3 Overall, I believe today was a milestone for all of us on this trip. Today really showed how much potential we all have and if we just put our minds to it, we can achieve it.
I have enjoyed reading all your blogs. Such a wonderful opportunity of leadership and teamwork. Keep up the great work!
HI Max, Thank you for sharing this real life story. We are so proud of all of you for being a team (Together Everybody Achieves More) with a common goal to serve and give back. These leadership experiences begin to lay the leadership foundation to create major positve change in this awesome world we live. Keep inspiring the world one person at a time.
Love you – Dad (Mike Navarro)
Wow great job everyone. It’s Tuesday and your time there is nearly over but it sounds like you have all left a mark on the community and each other. Jasmine I can’t wait to hear all about it. Love you.
Beautifully done to your collaboration and perspiration. Believe the paths you walked will leave an unforgettable mark…..
Looks like you are all having a wonderful experience. I really enjoy reading all the blogs and what a fantastic time you are all having. So happy that they have this blog so we can see what you are all doing. What an opportunity to work with the kids. Ariana you look great and we really miss you. See you all soon. Love, Mom
Wow. Looks so good. Great job!!!