In 12 hours I will be leaving Lafayette for Costa Rica along with 13 other students and two professors. I am currently sitting in an airport, about to fly back from Florida, where I was on a training trip with the rest of the swim team. The logistics of this service trip are impractical (the three-hour window in the middle of the night tonight at Lafayette during which I will need to pack, the dependence on my flight being on time…) but I knew the moment that I heard about this trip that it was the opportunity of a lifetime. I have always wanted to go on a service trip but had never had an opportunity to do so. And so, when I learned that ASB club was having a trip to help save sea turtles (my favorite animal), I knew it would be a horrible mistake not to apply. And then I was accepted, and had to break the news to my coach that I would be in Costa Rica conserving sea turtle beaches instead of swimming two-a-days in Easton over interim. And to my surprise, he was incredibly supportive, because he understood that this was a cause that meant a lot to me. And now here I am, 12 hours away from an amazing opportunity to help out a community and an endangered animal in a way I will probably never get to do again. In hopes of performing the best service I can, forming new friendships, and making a difference, I am ready.