Hey guys! My name is Kevin Lee and I am from Mills High School in Millbrae, California. I chose to go on this eye opening trip as I believed that I would become aware of what is actually happening in the world around us and see what we can do to make it better. I am so fortunate that I am paired up with these amazing people and I am very happy that I can call them my friends.

The question of the day was “How important is education to the success of a child? Is universal access to education given the constraints of the developing world?” I believe that education is important to the success of a child because children need to have an education as the job market is very competitive today. Most jobs usually hire people that have an education rather than someone who does not have one. There is no universal access to education as developing worlds might believe that rebuilding their government is more important than having their young ones learn.

In the morning at 7, we traveled to the Instituto de Santa Cruz, a local high school, where we each had an individual high school student to “shadow”. We spent the whole school day with them, but their school hours are only from 7am-12pm. The school is very different from what we are used to see back in the states. Their desks were very small and the balls that they used for physical education were all flat. Sometimes, we take the things that we have for granted, but we do not realize how much better our things are compared to those of others. On a more positive note, everyone was very welcoming and they asked very interesting questions. Overall, we had a very interesting day, as it opened our eyes and learned not to take what we have for granted.

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In the afternoon, we had our first English tutoring session. We were divided into three groups, basic, intermediate and advanced. Locals from all over Esteli came to learn English. We all had a great time, teaching and having a great time with the locals. By the end of the tutoring session, we were all exhausted and could not wait to go to dinner and eat some gallo pinto.

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When we got back to hostel, we were so tired. Even though it was a very long and tiring day, the end result was very rewarding. We learned about the not to take things for granted, but what was most important is that we all had fun!