Growing up in the mid-sized town of Gainesville, Georgia. I always wanted to travel and get out of town. From a young age, I have been taught that traveling and getting out was one of the best ways to experience the different cultures of the world. I saw the mission trips that my church was offering as a way to do that.

I have been blessed to grow up in one church, and remain involved to this day. Going through elementary school at my church you are involved in children’s activity, but you can’t really go on trips until you are in middle school. Seeing all of these trips advertised, I knew I had to be a part of it. Once I got in middle school, I signed up for my first trip, a week long trip to Anchorage, Alaska to help out at an orphanage and work on a house. I fell in love, and I knew right away that this is what I wanted to do in life. Giving back to help someone achieve another level of happiness has been something that I have held as one of my values. I knew from that moment forward that that was something that I had to incorporate into my life. 

Going out and experiencing cultures that are different from ours is something that we do not do often enough. We settle, get comfortable and get in our niches and don’t explore enough. We need to take a step outside of our comfort zone and experience the joy and the beauty the world has to offer. As soon as someone steps out of their comfort zone, that is when true personal growth happens.

Since that first trip, I have been fortunate enough to go all over the world with mission trips and help out a numerous amount of people. It gives me joy each and every time I do it. From repairing a roof in Eleuthera, Bahamas to building a church in the Dominican Republic, I have met new people and made an impact on their lives. But what they don’t know is how much they have impacted my life, and they have changed how I view the world.