Overseas Volunteer Application Essays

Name

August 29 , 2008

Overseas Volunteer Application Essays

The summer of 1996 was a time of great change for me as an individual This was the summer that I was fortunate enough to get to spend six weeks as part of a traveling abroad program . These six weeks changed the way I viewed different places , people and cultures . I was lucky enough to experience many different things in many different places . I met many people from interesting cultural backgrounds and learned a lot from them . These six weeks prepared me for

many new experiences in life

While traveling , I stayed with different families who were kind enough to take me in . Living with people who had different cultures and sometimes even different languages was a challenge for me since I had never even been out of the United States before this trip . I got to learn how to adapt to new situations by finding inventive ways to communicate with other humans . This was invaluable to me because it forced me to really pay attention to other people and learn about their cultural values through observation . This is a skill that has stayed with me . I have learned to slow down and really listen and observe in to learn new things and gain new perspective

I was also able to visit many historic sites , landmarks and museums during my travels that I had only read about in books . I was able to apply a picture in a book to the real setting and this was an incredible experience . In these visits I was also able to learn a great deal about the culture in which I had immersed myself . This allowed me a deeper understanding of the people around me . These visits also told me about the rich histories of different groups of people and how they shaped the culture as it is today . In addition , I was able to try new and different foods which only added to my cultural experiences . At the same time , as I was experiencing new cultures I was also able to reflect on my own culture and the importance that it holds in my life

My travels have helped shaped the person I am today . I was forced to learn patience as I was immersed in cultures with different values and languages . I learned how to be creative in finding ways to communicate respectfully . I built my self confidence as I began to realize how capable I was of learning about different cultures in ways other than reading books . I got the opportunity to meet interesting people who helped me understand different ways of life and apply those to my own life . I learned how to be flexible in adapting to new ways of doing things , new ways of communicating and even new ways of eating . I experienced a great deal of personal growth in these travels that will prove invaluable to me in my future accomplishments

Changing lives is a great experience . This...