Pre-Trip Reflections: Emily Davis

Pre-Trip Reflection:

I have never had an experience being immersed in a culture outside my own, and Gettysburg is the furthest I’ve ever been away from home. I feel a need to both experience a new culture and engage in a service project at the same time. I believe that service oriented learning allows for a deeper experience and understanding of lifestyles and situations that are unknown to me.

I might struggle with witnessing poverty or situations in which people may be suffering due to the lifestyle. In past service projects, helplessness towards the situation and guilt for my own privilege has been especially difficult to deal with. I have no idea what’s ahead of me on this trip but trust that I will grow from it, learn to be thankful for the blessings I have yet have not earned, and do my best to help others along the way.

Biography

I’ve lived in Washington and Oregon with my parents and two little sisters, Haley (16) and Amy (13) all of my life. Growing up in a small agricultural town, I spent most of my childhood being read to by my grandmother and playing in the orchards and small swamps surrounding our neighborhoods. I was an expert at tetherball and soccer but terrible at marbles and foursquare.

In college, I began exploring religion, and Christianity has become a very important element in my life. Some day, I hope to become either a missionary or a teacher. I still enjoy playing soccer, but only do so for fun now, not on an organized team. I enjoy studying Spanish and English and hope to study abroad in Argentina, the country of my favorite author, and England, the country where my mother was born.