As I start the countdown to my 11 month journey many people will ask why The World Race?
When I was 16 years old I spent a month in Africa in the country of Zambia. There, I lived with my cousin who had previously been in the Peace Corp and had been living in Africa for 10 years. She brought me to a local orphanage where I would eventually spend the majority of my time that month. I spent my days playing with the children and helping teach in the schoolhouse. As cliché as it sounds I came back to America a changed girl. From there I teamed with my friend Emily Hudson to form a club called Children Everywhere at our school Orangewood Christian in Maitland, FL. With help from our family and friends we put on two benefit concerts raising over $5,000. The money went to the orphanage I had visited in Zambia to pay for another teacher and to an orphanage in Acapulco, Mexico where Emily had visited.
Around that time of planning the benefit concerts I heard about The World Race. I spent my free time exploring The World Race website and showing all my familyand friends the promo video. After discovering I had to be 21 to apply, I made a promised to myself I would go after I graduated from college.
Fast forward to my last semester of college at the University of Mississippi the time had come to apply. I instantly became petrified and started to second-guess myself. Thoughts ran through my mind. Could I really handle being away from my family and friends for 11 months? Am I religious enough for this? Could I handle not sleeping in my cozy bed? Would I like the food? Was I really called to do this or was it just a high school dream? I completed the first step to my application but then stopped. A few months went by and I still had no idea what I wanted to do. I constantly talked to my family and friends trying to come up with all the pros and cons. One night over Christmas break it hit me, if I really wanted to go on The World Race THIS WAS THE TIME. I was not about to get a job and spend my days wishing I shouldhave stepped outside of my comfort zone and done it.
So here my am, making the best of my last couplemonths as a college student, surrounded by mybest friends and extremely comfortable with my surroundings, getting ready to experience what looks like to be the most rewarding but scary 11 months of my life.
Want to help purchase supplies I need for the race? Check out my REI gift registry! Click here!
