My trip was defined by people. My picture represents all the new friends I made and the shared experiences have. Before travelling to Morocco, the only person I knew was Vinny. By the end of the trip, I was planning to go to Sai’s Temple. I have memories for the rest of my life from this trip. All the guys became so close during this trip. The jokes of Sai sleeping during class and the stories he told were great. One of my favorite memories was when we are all at the Pirate Ship singing Sweet Caroline. It was cool to bond with people I didn’t know. We were all in unfamiliar territory and thrived. I enjoyed learning about the boys and where they came from. Xander is the first boy I have from the UK.
It was cool how we ended up having a daily routine. We would go to the Cafe everyday and eat. Then we would play soccer on the beach. I loved our competitive series. SVN on top. We celebrated by running into the ocean. I enjoyed when we went and played basketball with locals. We met some local people who photographed us. The photo I chose represents what made my experience so great. I was nervous going into it, but I met a bunch of people who made this trip awesome. I have so many inside jokes and moments with people I didn’t know two weeks ago. To me that is special.
I learned a lot about myself from this trip. As I have said many times, I am not a fan of travelling. My parents laughed at me. However, this experience was life changing. I was living with a host family where there was a toilet right in front of where I was showering. I was going through it for the first week. I had a curfew. With all that being said, my host family was so incredibly nice. They were so cool, and I bonded with the kids. I ate with them and they were the nicest people ever. This made all my doubts go away. I was nervous about the food, the water, sleeping, and more. However, I learned that none of that mattered. As long as I was happy and comfortable, noting else mattered. I learned that I can adapt to situations, and I got out of my bubble. I am from a suburb in Pittsburgh. I got out of my bubble and learned I can thrive in Morocco. I overcame all my doubts and had a great time.
From an academic and professional standpoint, I grew greatly. Listening to the lectures we had, I felt like I learned a lot. I really learned a lot from the Moroccan Mark Cuban. In addition, the language barrier was a growing point. Professionally, the presentation and working with a group of people were a big growing point. It was fun adapting and working with a group. Lastly, I learned from every lecture.