Experiences & Opportunities that await me in China

The main reasons why I accepted to be a Student Ambassador with People to People (P2P) was the experience and opportunities. I know that in my lifetime I would never be able to go to China on my own and be able to do as much as travel and activities as I would if I went with P2P! At first I was skeptical, and wasn't sure if this whole People to People was real because of all the controversy there is on a couple of sites that pop up when you type "People to People" into Google. But then I went to the P2P site and was looking at all the opportunities they are giving me if I decide to go! I get high school credits and service hours, which will help me, get a special seal on my diploma when I graduate, and the opportunity of a lifetime!

We haven't even left yet and I’m already creating a bond with the other delegates! We've only seen one another a couple of times during the monthly meetings, and we don't have enough time there to socialize. I am Facebook friends with most of them, and still starting to get to know them. There's also this one kid, who lives in Colorado, and is coming to China with our delegation, he's been kept up on all the meetings and we all talk to him over the Facebook group one of our leaders made to help everyone connect and get to know each other! There are a few of us that are Hunger Games fanatics and love the series, and some of us that are all fans of the same types of music.

What I really would love to gain from being a student ambassador is leadership. I am currently lacking in this region, and while being an ambassador and representing our country I really need to stick up, and be the leader. I also need to learn what to say, and what not to say because they are judging my actions, and thinking that's what all Americans are like. I need to be a young adult, and also take responsibility for everything I say or do.

When I was asked to have an interview with one of the leaders after I had turned in an essay and got teacher recommendations, I got really nervous, because interviews and presentations aren't my forte. Then, there I was, sitting in front of the leader in his 3rd grade class room, legs shaking, palms sweaty, but he made me relax and I finally opened up and was just myself, not some fake me that is basically talking like a robot. I went through the interview, and when I was finally accepted, I felt very happy and relieved, and I just knew my life would change from that day on. One of my friends, Robert, was asked to go as well, same trip and everything, and he said he couldn't because if the money issues. Yes, the money issues are problems that need to be factored into the choice you make, if you’re going to go or not, but you can raise the money, and I’m upset he’s missing out on a one-time adventure/experience he can never get back. I had one friend that went last year to Europe. She said it was so different from anything else she has done and it has really made her a better person. When I had told her I got accepted, she was so happy for me and wanted to help me start raising the money right away.

 I want to be challenged. I want to be put into a different country that I’ve never been in before and meet the locals, learn their native language, and see what their culture is first hand. I have been to Costa Rica in the summer, and they speak Spanish, but here in Arizona so does everybody else. So it really isn’t that much different except for the location. I want to go somewhere where I can’t read what that sign says because it’s a Chinese symbol, unless I learn the basics and can get myself around on my own if I needed to. Plus I really do admire what little I do know about the Chinese culture. The Great Wall, the wall that can be seen from outer space, and its significance. The nest, where the Olympics was held and how that surrounding area has grown so much, and business is booming. Here we sit around our houses, eating chips, watching TV, on our smartphones, while people in China are out, making a living, and supporting their families in more ways than we can’t image. I want to learn from that and make changes to how I live my life back home, and be a better person with a better understanding of the world around us, and how we can change it.

I’m really excited to go to China this summer! I’ve already started getting the essential products I need like rain coats, bags to put my clothes in, first-aid kits, etc. I’ve measured all my luggage, and have seen if all my clothes fit into plastic bags to make more room in the luggage. In the next week will be starting to convert money over from the bank, and researching a good camera to bring with me. I’ve also been telling people, “Hey...you know if you give me $20 I will get you an authentic gift from China”, in efforts toward my travel bill that never seems to get any smaller! I’ve been collecting items from my friends like clothes and things they want me to use in China, they’ve been really helpful but this scholarship would really make me feel less tense, and know that I can definitely  go to China now that I’ve made a huge chunk of my bill go away!

A lot of people think I won’t be able to raise all the money, and won’t be going to China. Which really hurts my feelings because this is something I want to do, and I want to be a student ambassador. My own grandparents and father don’t think I can do it, and going to China is a waste of money, time, and I could be doing something else with my time, my mother is really the only one who has been there and helped me through this! I want to be a part of those few that are able to make a difference in this country, and this world. I hope when I come back I’ll be a whole new person, re-born and changed for the better. My mom even says she knows it will be hard to be away from me for 17 days, but it’s what I'm doing that will make her feel more at ease. Helping out at an orphanage, teaching English at a school in a village, seeing the Great Wall, doing a home-stay with a family, meeting political delegates from China, learning their language of symbols and how to cook their local food, Terracotta Warriors, and using the local transportation, all in 17 days in 6 different cities all across China!

I’m very excited to get on that plane and land in China. Their climate, people, surroundings, culture, and life style are different from ours here in America. Being a student ambassador with people to people has changed my mind set already and I'm not even in the airport yet. I want to grow as a person and become more self-reliant, and more mature, because honestly I'm living off of my mother, like every other teenager out there. I admire the few that go on their own and do things without any help from others because I wanted to do it, they want to make a difference, and they want to be a part of something bigger than just being a part of a group of people sitting on a couch watching people play football.


Thank you for your consideration.