A crisp and potent pollen-filled aroma signifies the beginnings of the Spring season, a time in which I was overcome with excitement. I had just finalized my attendance for the upcoming El Salvador trip in August, a conquest that my parents had shared reluctance over due to the overlap with my university scheduling. It would be my second time attending the Habitat for Humanity trip. Nonetheless, my parents gave in with the conclusion that the trip would serve as my high school graduation present.

I first attended the trip two years ago when I was sixteen years old. Unsuspecting, it quickly became one of the most precious experiences of my life. I was blessed with tedious but rewarding labor, wonderful and wise mentors, and beautifully fervent little El Salvadorean children. Filled with an overwhelming sense of happiness, I started pestering my parents to go again the moment I got home.

The 2018 trip is no different than my 2016 trip in a physical sense - a routine which consists of 5:30am wake up calls, eight hour laborious work periods, two hour teaching sessions with the neighborhood children of Zacatecoluca, and so forth. However, my experiences of the two trips contrast drastically as the volunteers who worked alongside me and the teaching material were different.

Anywhere else I would not be as excited to shovel and pound dirt for hours at a time, but the sense of unity and ability to see the progression of said shoveling and pounding energized and expanded my physical and mental capacities. The thirteen volunteers, all from different stages of life, joined together with the goal to be of use to the masons for building the home. Those that grew tired still felt the need to assist by walking around and feeding water to their fellow peers. We poured our hearts into each task, leaving behind no regrets.

At four, we packed our bags and headed to the teaching site located in Zacatecoluca. I faced the challenge of teaching an advanced group of children, a contrast to the beginners class I taught two years prior. Immediately I felt overwhelmed with amazement on the voracious attitudes that many of the children carried to learn. They challenged me to better myself as a teacher and find creative tactics to engage them.

This whole experience was truly a blessing for me. I was able to escape my ordinary routine at home and enter a state of discomfort in a new environment. It helped me reach a state of mindfulness and awareness to those that I worked alongside and also see the value of education and its effects through the quaint but vibrant homes of La Paz. We came to be of service but were embraced endearingly by the locals and in turn treated as guests. We come home with happiness and, for me, a desire to soon reunite with my El Salvadorian brothers and sisters. El Salvador will forever have a piece of my heart.

<Rose Chang Virginia Commonwealth University(Freshman i>