The Most Epic Page Ever!

	Late nights, early mornings, "to-do" lists that stretch onto several pages, impossible missions, never enough time... When people ask what it's like being an International Service Coordinator, my response is always the same. "I'm living a dream." I do often question the sanity of my dreams, but regardless, it's one I've never regretted and have never gone back on. Last year I chose a blue paper crane out of a hat and a few months later, found myself in Sri Lanka. My journey and experiences there have literally changed my life. I left Sri Lanka with the knowledge that lives were better because of me, that a hundred and fifty children had a better school to go to, that eleven woman could start businesses because of the micro-financing loans we set up, that the friendships I created were eternal. It was the first time I had seen real poverty and it was the first time I recognized the power I have to change the world. This past year has been one of the hardest in my life as I deal with knowing that the majority of the participants experience overseas relies on my own ability to accomplish the task at hand. Yet at the same time, this past year has been one of the best in my life as I wake up every day knowing I'm making a difference and, given the opportunity, these participants can make a difference too. When it comes down to it, that is my job description, creating the opportunity. Sri Lanka impacted me in a way I don't think I'll ever be able to truly describe. This year, as a coordinator, I won't have the experiences of creating and participating in service projects, something that gets me down on rainy days, yet I hold onto the thought that maybe, just maybe, because of me these participants can have their own Sri Lanka experience. That somehow through this epic journey to the other side of the world, they can meet a child who captures their heart, or perhaps there will be a woman who cries and clings to them as they are about to leave, or maybe they will look over a fence and see a toddler, alone and without clothes, staring out over the ocean... Whatever the experience, there are infinite possibilities of encountering that one moment that will change the core of who they are. So there are late nights, really late nights sometimes, and I can't see anything past the ridiculous amount of coffee cups that clutter my desk, but everyday I wake up knowing that this is my dream. Tesia Bobrycki