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Having only known Team Four for a couple days, I was already so incredibly proud at their ability to jump right in and help out in any way possible. Fifteen minutes in, it felt like I was sweating buckets and everyone looked just drenched as I was, but we all had smiles across our faces and excited for what was to come next. We have the biggest house build for Week One and we couldn’t be happier to be a part of it.

I saw people. I saw young, hardworking men. I saw wonderful children, including a toddler proudly wearing her pink dress. I saw proud mothers and mothers-to-be. I saw kindness and community and positivity. I saw hope. That is what I chose to see on my second visit to the garbage dump today.

You know when you just have a lot on your mind, and you are not sure how to express it? Well, that was me last year when I participated in a Live Different Hero Holiday here in Dominican Republic. It was an amazing experience that threw a million situations, facts, and opportunities at me, and I just had no idea how to remember and express it all.

In coming to Vicente Guerrero, we had a mission… to build two houses for families in need. However, what we quickly learned was that although building the two houses was important, our priority would be building relationships with the families. In a land where water is scarce and work is arduous, the families we were working with gave all they could to us during our time with them. For one family, this meant working side by side, learning the required skills to assist with the framing of the home, painting, tarring, shingling - everything really. This single mother and her family poured their hearts into helping to build their house and the sense of pride and ownership was obvious.

Some days I get up in the morning wondering why I am awake when even the birds know it's too early. We climb onto a bus, lug three tonnes of gear into a school, and set up a wall of production and sound equipment big enough to make Kanye West feel like a superstar. But why?

When facilitating the experience of the young people who spend four months in Mexico with me, one of my goals is that their hearts would break when they have to say goodbye. Not because I like to see people suffer, but because then I know that they have really experienced true friendship and the Mexican culture.

As a third year Finance student at the University of British Columbia, the need for me to expand my horizons and widen my perspective has become almost imperative as I transition into my final year before graduation. Despite being a business major, I have always been fascinated by the rich history of many cultures and nations. Having played integral leadership roles on various on-campus clubs and volunteer initiatives within the community, I wanted the opportunity to help on an international scale and when I heard of Live Different's collaboration with UBC for a trip to a nation struggling to survive in poverty and being the poorest in the Western hemisphere, the choice became clear.