Hello everybody, my name is Carlos Cruz and I had the honor of being the leader of the last full day of this amazing yet life-changing trip in Leon, Nicaragua. I had been waiting for the day I would be the leader for the longest time! My routine consisted of waking up way earlier than actually needed, which made my role as a leader who was responsible for keeping everybody awake and energized extra difficult. I was only able to make it through because of the thought of this being our last day together and not wanting to miss a second of it. We got time in the morning to reflect as a group about our most meaningful experiences as well as about the things that we will take away from this trip, such as making lifelong friends. But it was also super sad because it reminded me of all the amazing times we had and everything that I will miss once I get home.

It was also our last day of English class and in order to prepare for the graduation ceremony held later, I wrote a speech for the ceremony about  how the tutoring course taught by all the delegations this summer were coming to an end. It made me feel really excited because I would be able to express my thoughts about this entire trip and thank people for making it such a memorable one. I was also super happy because I felt as if all of the students’ work was being rewarded for all the effort that they did throughout the entire course. After finishing preparing for the ceremony, students had about 3 hours of free time, where some went to get some snacks for the ceremony while others went out to just bring snacks back to the United States. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to go out because I was working on a letter that we all had to write but I had struggled with. The letter was dedicated to either a supporter of this trip or just somebody who I am thankful for. I also worked on my Spanish speech for the English ceremony, while the rest of the group went to pick up some custom made baseball jerseys while others went to Casa Del Cafe or went shopping.

At the actual English class ceremony, with the help of others, we set up the room and prepared snacks for everybody. I was the lead MC, which meant that I had to make sure that everything ran smoothly and had to give my speech. Before presenting my speech, there was a talent show that all of us as well as the students participated in. It was really nice because everybody came together and we all had a great time as we danced, sang and had an overall lit time.  After this, we gave the certificates to all the students and when the ceremony was over, we took pictures with each of our groups. One of the beginning students brought a cake for the group because of how appreciative he was, which was super nice! We now find ourselves in the last night of our trip hanging out and trying to take full advantage of the little time we have left with each other.

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