Each week we bring you the story and perspective of an outstanding volunteer. This week, meet Jessica Mejia, an Architecture Brigades volunteer from Philadelphia University, who recently participated in a Brigade to Honduras.
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I have always wanted to travel the world because I enjoy learning about other countries. I also wanted to go to all these places and help those that need it. I believe we are very fortunate to have everything we need here in the States. I started to look up programs I could join at my school; that is when I found the Medical Global Brigade. I was willing to do it even though it wasn’t my field of study. A few weeks later a classmate of mine decided to start an Architecture Global Brigade to Honduras, that’s when I decided to commit to be part of this group.
Going to Honduras I knew I wasn’t going to be culturally shocked because of my family background however I didn’t know what to expect for the volunteer experience. This was going to be my first big volunteer project. It is quite different when you visit a country and another to and work there.
What I found to a pleasant experience was getting to know people I never met before. I didn’t know anyone who was going 
from my school or the partner school, other than one person. By the end of the trip I felt like I was with them for a month and not a week, other people that I enjoyed working with was the staff. Not only did they just made sure our stay was safe and flow smoothly, they also interacted with us and helped us out at the sites.
If there was one thing I learned about Honduras was to expect the unexpected. There were so many memories made that couldn’t be made anywhere else and some that only you and the people there can laugh at. A norm in Honduras was trying to figure out how to cross roads, trying to communicate with the helpful locals, trying to get seconds of the amazing food, trying to teach little orphans that only want to play with you, not knowing what the rain might bring the next day, being sorer from laughter than the labor, learning hands on building techniques and how to be resourceful, being surrounded by beautiful landscape, and the list can go on.
What I take out of this experience is that I really want to do this type of work as a professional. I already kind of had that in mind before coming on the trip. I changed my major from Architecture to Construction Management because I wanted to work more with people and the process of making projects happen. I want to create projects in underdeveloped countries. Now after Honduras I want to do that more than ever. When I go back to school I want our Architecture Global Brigade to fundraise so we can all go back with our partner school in Illinois and new members.
Going to Honduras gave me a fulfilling feeling for being able to help others even if it was a little bit and enjoy doing it even though it was hard work and not lodging like at home. I think all youth should do volunteer service like this because it makes you selfless from an early age and I believe the youth has a bigger impact on the world towards the older generation because it shows that we want to make the world a better place from a young age and NOW! Also it makes us aware of what is going on around us and not just in the perimeters of our home or city. This makes us more diverse and understanding of other cultures.
