Participant: Mollie Schillinger

My name is Mollie Schillinger, I am 17 years old and in the 11^th grade. My interests include reading and rowing. After I graduate high school, I am interested in going to college for four years and studying to become a nurse in the future. Something interesting about me is that I have three dogs and a turtle. I also am part of boys and girls clubs on the north side of Pittsburgh. I work in a science center near my house almost every weekend and I really enjoy working there. There, I learned how much I enjoy working with and helping out with kids since they are the main people I work with all day long while I am there. I spend a lot of my time with my family and friends along with doing school work.  I am pretty outgoing and I love to meet new people.

I go to City Charter High School, which is located in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and I really like it there. We go to school all year around. We go for three months and then get off for one month (December, April, and August). We are required to wear dress clothes. We are not able to wear anything such as jeans, t-shirts, running shoes, or anything that is casual like that.  At first I did not really like this, but eventually, I got pretty used to it and I do not mind anymore. Our teachers also loop with us, which means that we have the same teachers for all four years of high school. I really like that our school does this. I think that it makes everyone a little bit more comfortable and I think that it makes us more successful as well.

I am going on this trip for multiple reasons. Ever since my sister went on this trip about three years ago, I knew I wanted to go too. From all the stories and everything else that she told me about her own experiences made me want to go even more than I already did. I really love to travel and to explore new places. I also want to learn about other cultures and areas other than my own. I am excited to learn thing hands on instead of just learning about things in school. I will be able to get hands on experience with something new to me. Another thing I am looking forward to is helping people out. I am looking forward to going to Costa Rica and being able help out people who really need it.

When it comes to this trip, I am not really concerned about many things. One thing that I am just a little bit worried about is being away from home in a new place for so long, but I am not too concerned because I know that I will be just fine and I will not really think about it once I am actually there and experiencing everything. I am also worried about tiring myself out when it comes to the service work and the hiking that we will be doing so much during the trip. From this trip, I hope to gain a better understanding of the Costa Rican culture and what people who live there are like. I also hope to be exposed to new and interesting things that I would not be exposed to otherwise. I want to meet new people and discover new things about them along with new things about myself. I cannot wait to learn and experience these things while we are in Costa Rica.