The weeding team

The weeding team

The bean plants we were picking

The bean plants we were picking

Leroy and Jonathan are ready to get to work

Leroy and Jonathan are ready to get to work

“There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance next time.” – Malcom X

20150715_104122Becoming a leader takes time, effort, responsibility, an open mind, a heart that is capable of loving others, and an imperfect mind. One reason why I say becoming a leader needs an imperfect mind is because before taking the status of being a leader, there are going to be obstacles, heartbreak, frustration, and setbacks that will occur before and after becoming a leader. All these things are just the beginning. All these things (individually) are JUST the seed of improving as a leader and as a person.

Sharing the position “El Lider Del Día” was a lot of work from the time we started to the moment our time was up. While being a leader together, some obstacles came around. Today we went to a place called IDIAF (Dominican Institute of Agricultural Forestalls Investigations) where we helped the farmers pick green bean seeds and weeded. We got the chance to experience being a farming local. Before we started, we all were excited to help out and get to work. While working we realized how fun and how difficult it is to be a farmer. Staying in the sun for hours is very complicated. Even though it was a bit hot with a slight breeze, we had a lot of fun. Just to be honest, weeding and picking beans is a lot of work but it’s more fun when you’re doing it with group of people you have a great and beautiful bond with.

JS20150715_093351Today, we were working as a local, it was difficult but we persisted through the day. We kept morals high by talking to one another when doing physically tiring work. I was very proud of the group today because although we were working hard, we kept our heads high and never gave up. We had to wake up early today since, Dominican farmers wake up at around 5:00 am. Today, Sadiya and I woke up at 5:30 am. Waking up today with the motivation to help my group succeed in making the day more organized and to help the GG leaders by also making “Working Like Local Day” run smooth was my main goal today.

SVW: One of the most interesting days of the whole trip happened today. Before being given the position “El Lider Del Dia” I sat down and thought about what I can bring to the table to make sure the day would run smoothly. I ended up thinking about my past experience with farming and weeding and my good social skills. Luckily I took a farming class as an elective in high school – that was really beneficial. One goal I made before falling asleep was to make sure I helped everyone in the group (Including my ELDD partner) open their mind to the world of farming and hard work. I am proud to say that I worked up to my goal and also did more. I ended up helping the group be more productive and more open to being young leaders.

In conclusion, today was just amazing and we were hardworking (Our Unity Clap Word). To sum up everything, effort does determine success because if you put in no work or power into what you are doing, then expect to not succeed and receive nothing but empty hands.20150715_114450