Planning, Planning, and More Planning

 After attending a University Symposium in Norfolk, Virginia we were given the once in a lifetime opportunity to pilot a new program that allows college students involved in Operation Smile develop student programs internationally. Since early January we have worked to create everything for a three day conference from scratch. Now only 5 days from heading to Panama, we just completed our final conference call. Each Monday we have taken an hour out of our hectic collegiate schedules to plan out every detail of the conference including the schedule, guest speakers, manuals, t-shirts, promotional fliers, and each and every presentation. Every week we each work on our own to chip away at the pile of tasks that need to be completed. Planning, planning and more planning. It's a ton of work, but we're all very excited to have the opportunity to pilot one of the first U-Lead missions for Operation Smile University Programs in Panama City, Panama. We have been working with Operation Smile Panama staff and Student Programs Carlos Veron from Paraguay to get everything done. Fingers are crossed, and the culmination of our work will pay off to inspire the already dedicated students helping the organization in Panama.

So why are we going to Panama? Panama has been extremely receptive and helpful in planning the U-Lead mission. They are one of the biggest supporters of Student Programs within the Operation Smile international community and already have a huge amount of student support. By holding a U-Lead mission in Panama, we hope to fulfill our conference motto "Inspiring Waves of Change." Hopefully our efforts will push the already strong student leaders in Panama to create a ripple effect, growing student clubs, and inspiring new groups of students to become leaders with a lifelong commitment to philanthropy. 

We're a bit nervous, but mostly we just can't wait to put the rigors of college aside for Spring Break and do what we really love--working to change the world, one smile at a time.

-James Reid

 From left to right: Megan, Claire, Jennifer, Logan, Jake, James and Dani