Hello everyone! If we’ve never met before and you’ve stumbled across my blog, I hope you’re entertained with my thoughts, experiences, and embarrassing story recaps. Welcome, Pura Vida, and let’s get started.

On May 30th, I met the individuals I’ll be working with all year. Eight of us were at Orientation, and two will be joining us in August (you can choose to work an internship in the States if that’s more favorable with scheduling). The orientation in Houston lasted two days, and it was fun to witness the awkward interactions of strangers transform into friendly conversation. A big thank you to Dr. Van Kleeck for starting us off on the right note and engaging us in conversation about our personalities and how to best use different personalities to our advantage in a team setting.

What’s a blog post without an embarrassing story? The plane ride to Costa Rica was enjoyable until I decided to read my textbook assignment. Everything was going well. I was learning about Needs Finding, turning these needs into tangible statements, and filling my book with copious amounts of orange highlighter. It turns out the perfect recipe for motion sickness are a combination of reading words, turbulence, and circling thoughts of flying over an ocean in a giant metal bird. (Thanks to Karlee and Callie for acting fast with the Wendy’s bag, I’ll never forget the smell of those leftover fries).

Embarrassing stories aside, these first few days in the GMI program have been an eye opening learning experience. The team started off strong – we’ve formed contracts to build trust and express expectations. These people I’m working with are so willing to work hard and go the extra mile – I’m very excited for what’s to come in the future.

“Things do not happen. Things are made to happen” – John F. Kennedy