A group of students (Mikaylah, Lezine, Laz, Tannin, Dhruval, Kevin, Elsa, Bryan, Eric) and I climbed Mount Asante yesterday, and it was one of the most invigorating experiences of our lives. The mountain terrain was treacherous-wet, rocky, and muddy. The slope was incredibly steep and it took all of us working as a team to make it to the top. Many times, we thought about turning around, but we just kept urging each other to continue for it would be worth it at the top. We were motivated by two factors. One, no other delegation had ever climbed to the top of the mountain and two we were committed to pushing through our physical limitations. As we climbed the mountain, we stopped at each station of the cross and talked about its meaning. Just when we thought we had reached the top of the mountain and we could see the cross with the huge statue of Our Lady of Guadaloupe, we had to climb 217 more stairs to find the most majestic view anyone could imagine. Pictures just can not capture the experience. We were overlooking the whole city of Matagalpa and it was breathtaking. The cool breeze, the sight of the enormous cross and statue, and a sense of accomplishment helped us to forget our weary bodies. Since we were the first delegation to reach the top, the students thought it was only fitting to do a big unity clap and the word used was “COMMITMENT.”