I can still remember it like it was yesterday. Myself, Meredith, Allegra, and Sydney were sitting in our room at the University of Ghana in Accra, Ghana. We had spent the last three weeks studying abroad throughout the country and were heading home soon. Meredith saw something on Facebook about her friend who was on the World Race and she briefly explained what it was and then said “Kaitlyn, I could see you doing that.” That was the summer of 2014 and I never forgot that conversation. I knew then that I wanted to go on the World Race and that feeling never went away.
So here I am about to graduate in less than 2 months (lol because I still need to write my thesis…) and I am so excited to embark on this journey. A little bit of background on me: I am from Corpus Christi, Texas and grew up in an awesome family that loves sports and making fun of each other in the most loving way possible. My dad is hardworking and always willing to volunteer to coach Little League (I think I spent most of my childhood at National Little League) or help get uniforms for the middle school football team. My mom is simply the nicest person I have ever met. I have an older brother, Andrew, who always wants to help me (even when I am positive that I don’t need his help) who is incredibly smart and is going to be a lawyer by the time I come back. And he has given me an awesome friend and basically a sister- his girlfriend Codie. She’s already a part of our family and I wouldn’t have it any other way. We are far from perfect but we love each other an awful lot.
I came to know Jesus through an incredible place called Laity Lodge Youth Camp (and I am STOKED to be working there this summer). LLYC is a wonderful place and it is near and dear to my heart. I had the opportunity to travel to Haiti 3 times in high school with LLYC: Outbound and this ignited my passion for mission work. At TCU I have found incredible friends and a wonderful community. The TCU Wesley has been an incredible campus ministry that I have been a part of since my first week here. I also LOVE my church, University United Methodist which was the first home church I have ever had. I have felt so loved by the people at University and will be so sad to be leaving them soon. Through the Wesley and University, I also had the opportunity to work with an organization called Casas por Cristo which holds a special place in my heart. This is an organization that works to show people the love of Jesus by giving them the gift of a house. I have worked with Casas in Mexico and Guatemala and have made incredible friends along the way. I also love practicing my Spanish on these trips and hope to learn even more while in South America.
I am so excited to see what God has in store for this next year!
