Sixty-Seven Days
Sixty seven days. That’s 1,608 hours, 96,480 minutes, or 5788800 seconds until I step on that plane.
Just a few months ago, I was an overwhelmed first year sitting in a room filled with complete strangers. I remember sitting in that bright orange classroom on the fifth floor of the SLC staring at my hands folded in my lap. All I could think was how in just less than half a year, I’d be trekking through Asia with these strangers.
Revisiting these thoughts today, it is funny how much my perspective on this has changed. These unfamiliar faces have become my second family and have made my transition from high school to university a breeze. I love coming into our weekly Tuesday meetings and knowing I can sit beside anybody and not have to suffer through awkward small talk or the social distance you often experience with new friends. Though we have two separate destinations among us, we have become one single team working to achieve our fundraising goals together.
On February 11, we had our family vacation themed fundraising party at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. Decked out in Hawaiian shirts, socks and sandals and baseball hats, we looked like a bunch of dads who were definitely ready to party Island style! We all signed up for a shift to help work the party and keep it running smoothly, and rotated at the two hour mark so we could still have a bit of fun ourselves. Jobs varied from working the bar, manning the stairs and taking IDs at the front door. We were surprised to hear from the Frat brothers that they were shocked at how well we organized everything, some even saying we executed this party better than they have in the past! Overall it was a huge success, and we want to give a big shoutout to team member (and frat bro) Naveed Lail for helping us organize the event, and to the Beta Theta Pi frat brothers for letting us take over for a night! Their donation was more than generous and we are very grateful for all of their help with the event, they were such a vital part in making it the success that it was!
On the topic of successes, we also recently had another bake sale that took place on Valentines Day. Though it started off a little rocky with major baked good competition and a change of location, we ended up making a big profit off our pink and red goodies. We were definitely feeling the love that day!
As the weeks go on, we are continuing to prepare for the ever fast approaching date of our fundraising silent auction. Our silent auction subgroup is working hard at composing the baskets and securing goodies for the day of, and our team members keep bringing in amazing things that we will auction off. March 27th may be a month away, but it will definitely creep up on us. Though its overwhelming at times, I know we will be ready to raise a ton of money when the date arrives.
In addition to this, during our weekly Tuesday meetings we continue to focus on a new lesson each day. Ranging from cultural appropriation vs. appreciation to dealing with culture shock upon arrival, I definitely am feeling more and more prepared as we get closer to the departure date, which is only sixty seven day away.
Sixty seven days.
But I mean, who’s counting right?
-Sophia Smith, First Year, Team Nepal