“Coming back was harder than I expected. It was my first time going on this trip and it is a lot different than what you see on instragram. I just remember being in such awe the entire time and I couldn’t get out of my head of how much I have to be thankful for. I was coming back to America, I was smiling, hugged my sister, (I’m not a huge hugger),  I said hi to my dad and gave him a hug.

Just seeing everything I have was really challenging. When I went to school I was really quiet because my school is huge and I didn’t even realize.  I just took it for granted…like many other things. My friends were complaining about a class and I told them about the differences and how we should all really be grateful and so blessed to have what we have daily.  They agreed and haven’t really done that since.

It is hard to try to share your experience with everyone when they just hear a voice and a picture to follow it. I wish everyone could experience Paraguay to see the good in the world so everyone would take a few seconds, just relax and not rush everything. They could really see the positives rather than always complaining about the negatives which really don’t matter in the long run. It’s never bad enough to dwell on such things.

I decided to keep my gift from Paraguay along with the bracelets I made/received in Paraguay next to my bed so I can wake up and go to bed with a reminder for what I have to be thankful for.

-EMILY (2018 GSW Ambassador)