1. What made you decide to come back to VISIONS?
The connections I made with the participants and leaders made me want to come back to VISIONS. You’re in a tech-free, open, and honest environment, surrounded by the same people pretty much all the time. This forces you to communicate openly and honestly with others on your program while making a positive impact on the community you’re in, no matter which program you’ve selected. If VISIONS didn’t create these settings, I don’t think the friendships I’ve made would be as genuine as they are, and I don’t think VISIONS would be the program I know and love.
2. What’s one moment from last summer that best shows what VISIONS is like?
A moment that truly shows what VISIONS is like was when we arrived in Cusco, about to take the bus to Urubamba. I knew Nico (the project coordinator) would be at the airport, but I didn’t think he’d remember me. However, I was wrong—the second he saw me, he screamed my name. We both dropped our bags and gave each other one of the biggest hugs I’ve ever given and received. He treated me like I was a member of his own family, and that’s what VISIONS is really about: making such strong connections with the participants and leaders on these trips that you become a family.
3. When did you feel the most connected, challenged, or alive last summer?
I felt the most connected when we went stargazing. Once we got there, we grabbed our Crazy Creeks, sat in groups, and continued our conversations from the car ride to the stargazing site. The leaders, however, didn’t want us talking the entire time, so they told us to stargaze in silence for 10 minutes. Although the conversations ended quite abruptly, we actually looked at the stars rather than just acknowledging their presence.
During those 10 minutes, I watched how some stars would get brighter than the others and then fade back to match the rest of the visible stars. As I watched a couple of shooting stars pass by, I felt the wind across my face, the grass touching my skin and clothing, and I heard some of the leaders singing. At first, I didn’t recognize the song they were singing (Imagine by John Lennon), but once I did, I joined them.
Singing that song with my peers and the leaders while watching the stars light up the sky made me feel connected not only to my surroundings but also to the others on the program. Even though the conversations stopped, we still connected with each other because we were all able to take a moment to really appreciate where we were and what we were seeing.
