GETTING THERE!

The past couple of weeks have been crucial for the Cepia- Boston project. Over the course of these 2 weeks, Ashley and I have worked extremely hard to fundraise the money needed for the trip. We planned a Board Game night but it didn’t seem to interest people at all. It was disappointing for us to see that only two members of the community signed up for it. We decided to cancel it and plan another fundraiser. Alex one of our classmates’ parents suggested we did a raffle. Where we could ask local businesses to donate and we could fundraise the money we need. We sent a couple of emails to businesses around the community and many were excited and happy to support the project. Now, these past weeks have also been important for the project because Abby came to visit and we met a couple of times to discuss the logistics of the trip and to agree on an itinerary. Abby also met the girls and we had our first meeting in which Alison and Nayeli met the entire team. They even met Mileidy the leader of the project last year. The meeting went so incredibly that the girls are even more excited about the trip. The girls’ moms were also so happy to finally meet the adults who will be working with us to bring them to Boston this upcoming December. Mileidy was there to give some background information on what the experience was for her and how it was for the other two girls Sheyla and Kenji. In the meeting, Ashley and I explained to the girls what the itinerary was going to look like as well as spoke to them about the embassy and what they should bring to the meeting. We spoke to them about what the meeting would look like and gave them tips on what to say and prepare for the interview. The meeting went so well that none of the girls wanted to leave and they enjoyed connecting to Abby and her husband. During the meeting, we agreed that the girls would come to school this week, hopefully, this Tuesday.  Whereas for the Embassy meeting, they have it on Monday the 18th. This is the day in which we finally know if they can come to the States with us. Ashley and I are extremely anxious and worried about them not receiving their visas because then that would mean we would have to go with plan 2. Where we chose two students from the scholarship program at school, that already have their visas and bring them instead. However, we have faith and are positive that their visas will be accepted. In addition to our project, this upcoming week we have our CAS night presentation. Where Ashley and I will explain about the roller coaster ride that has been CAS and how much we have grown from this CAS experience. We are so excited to present and hopefully motivate more people to donate. We are also planning on having the raffle on the night of the presentation so that parents can buy more raffle tickets if they didn’t get a chance there. Boston is right around the corner, this means the most challenging aspects of the trip are coming. But I am still motivated and positive because I know that we have worked very hard to make this happen and soon enough it will all pay off. As for now, what keeps me motivated are these two girls’ smiles and excitement to go on the trip. I can’t wait to see what’s to come and to go on the trip and say to myself ‘’You did it!’’ Give myself a pad on the back and say ‘’I am proud of you Mel!’’