After concluding a hectic round of midterm exams in the second semester of my sophomore year of college, I set off for Panama City, Panama to pilot a U-Lead initiative for Operation Smile. While I certainly love Boston, the city I go to school in, it has a few flaws. The city is often cold and always filled with college students who are constantly racing around at an unrelenting pace. I am frequently confronted with biting winds, apathetic college students, and the stereotypically icy attitudes of New England people. Panama allowed to see the world in a fresh way. From the moment I stepped off the plane in Panama, I knew that I was in for a massive culture shock. Immediately we were warmly embraced by the in-country student leaders who helped us plan the conference and our great Paraguayan sponsor Carlos Veron. I soon grew to love the hot weather and slow pace of the country, known lovingly as "Panama Time."
Instantly I felt incredibly grateful for this experience. Operation Smile Student Programs entrusted us to create, plan, and lead an entire conference all by ourselves in a foreign country. This program was a pilot program, being tested for the first time in Panama and India by the 7 students, including myself, that make up the newly formed College Council. Our work will ultimately determine whether or not this is a sustainable initiative and whether or not other students would have this opportunity. Like any non-profit organization, budgets are often tight, and opportunities like this are not handed out often. Our team immediately felt the pressure to succeed at the task at hand, but we also felt empowered and trusted by the organization we love. I have significant experience planning and running conferences, including 2 International Student Leadership Conferences and 3 Mission Training workshops. But this was unlike anything I've ever done before. Unlike the other experiences, our team was responsible to do almost everything on our own, with little support from Operation Smile staff. We worked from scratch to produce a schedule, a student manual, a conference t-shirt. We had to find and confirm guest speakers and work out every little detail of the conference, bracing ourselves as best we could for the inevitable last minute changes. Sometimes the task felt incredibly daunting and stressful, pushing us to our limits as we worked to balance school, a social life, our school clubs, contact with regional clubs, and this massive task. I frequently skipped lunch to squeeze in more work, answering the 5-10 e-mails that accrued in my inbox in only a few hours on a daily basis. At times I felt like planning U-Lead was consuming my life, but perhaps more than anything, my week in Panama taught me that nothing worth doing comes easily. In order to make a difference, I knew I had to put my all into this initiative. After dozens and dozens of hours of volunteer work and three months of weekly conference calls, we made a plan that would lay the basis for the many U-Lead conferences again. Along with U-Lead India, we can now proudly say that our work can be used for years to come to change the lives of others.
After three months of intensive work, we set off for Panama, nervous, anxious, and excited to put our plan into action. I asked myself: Would everything go as planned? Is this even worth our time? Will we make an impact? What will the Panamanians be like? Will be able to handle this? I found that our work payed off more than we expected. I immediately began to love Panama City. It is a vibrant city that represents a dramatic clash between the first and third worlds, offering many of the pluses and minuses of both. The people were extremely welcoming, proudly showing us around their beautiful country, welcoming us into their homes, and doing everything they could to make us feel comfortable. At every turn of the time, our new friends extended themselves beyond measure to make sure we enjoyed ourselves, driving us around the city and squeezing in tourist sites when and were we could. I found myself ending each night happier than the one before. I became more and more grateful for the experience and fell more and more in love with the people and culture of Panama. Sometimes, we struggled to break through language barriers, but every time we met someone new they undoubtedly asked us one question: "Do you like Panama?" Each time I thought to myself, why do they even ask? Of course I love Panama!
For me, the greatest part of the conference was doing a service project in the hospital. We had spent the second day teaching the students about dental hygiene and nutrition, having them to develop presentations on these health modules. On the third day the students went around the hospital where our conference was held, presenting their knowledge to parents and children to simulate a mission experience and hopefully change some lives. Admittedly I was nervous about how this service project would go. I was worried about whether or not they were prepared enough to give presentation, since a formal Mission Training Workshop allows for much more time and practice. But when I saw those students in action, I saw myself on my mission. Their enthusiasm, courage, and passion blew me away. Memories of my experience in Agadir, Morocco in June 2008 flooded back and my biggest hopes were materialized. The students exceeded expectations and came back feeling accomplished and eager to make a greater impact. This service project really showed the unlimited potential of the world's youth. It showed how anyone, anywhere can make a difference in the world with just a little instruction. Often Operation Smile medical missions are full of parents and children that don't have basic information about health. Student Programs has worked over the years to develop health modules that allow students to go on medical missions as student educators. Operation Smile is one of the only non-profit organizations in the United States that empowers students by allowing them to go on international medical missions. Operation Smile often sends mostly American students on these missions, but this service project really showed what a difference amazing in-country foundations like the one in Panama can make in the world. I strongly believe that youth anywhere can change the world if they are given the right tools.
I am so grateful to have such an amazing team of leaders to work with. Megan, Jenn, and Dani are definitely some of the most inspiring people, I've ever met. We all come from Albuquerque, New Mexico. When I first got involved with the organization, our region was nothing but a small blip on the Student Programs radar, but the three years of Albuquerque leaders on the U-Lead team really show how much we have come. Thanks to the empowerment and trust of staff and sponsors, we've been able to make a huge impact in the world despite the fact that our region is less economically fortunate than other parts of the country. Megan is the person who dragged me to my first Operation Smile meeting--an action that changed my life forever. She is someone who I have looked up to throughout my involvement in Operation Smile. Jenn is one of the amazing leaders that I passed the torch to after I graduated high school. I am so proud of the leader that she has become, growing as a person and reflecting many of the qualities I want to see in myself. Dani is the one that helped our club at Cibola High School grow into a region by spreading Operation Smile at her high school at Bosque, getting involved at an early age, and helping to establish a powerful club and region in New Mexico. These young women are undoubtedly strong leaders that have changed my life and made me feel so fortunate to be working alongside them.
Overall, I feel extremely proud about how successful our U-Lead Conference went. Of course it was not perfect. We had a few organizational problems, and sometimes we were forced to confront unexpected circumstances. No conference is flawless, but I feel like the initiative was a resounding success. I am excited that university students may have a similar experience in the future because this conference represents a culmination of 5+ years of hard work. I am proud that I have worked to earn this opportunity and am extremely grateful for the responsibility that was give to me. The week in Panama proved to me, once again, that this is what I want to do for a living. I wanted the conference to be about "Inspiring Waves of Change." I wanted to motivate students to make a difference and get more involved, but their passion, dedication, enthusiasm, vast potential and willingness to learn had a profound impact on me. I know that there is nothing that makes me happier than this. I know that I want to continue my work with Operation Smile and to continue my efforts to make the world a better place for the rest of my life.
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