My first week and a half of winter break has been a whirlwind. Tuesday December 12 I finished my last final and two days later I was on a plane to Honduras with Engineers Without Borders — my first trip as project manager. The next seven days were some of the most challenging and rewarding of the whole semester. Going into the trip I thought I was fairly prepared to lead a group of 6 Americans and a community of 300 Hondurans in the continued implementation of the rainwater catchment system that our chapter has designed. What I quickly found out was that, well, I’m just a senior in college. Fortunately, I had an incredibly supportive team who was patient with me as I made mistakes and learned how to be a better engineer, a better communicator, and an all-around better leader. By the end of the trip, we had built some very difficult support columns, relocated the water tanks to the foundation we built last March, and attached the gutters to the roof. I’ve never been more proud of our work or more excited about the prospect of finishing this spring. And while it’s sad to think that I might only have one more trip to Honduras, it’s amazing to look back and realize everything that I’ve had the chance to learn and experience through my involvement with EWB-USC.
(Since I was busy project manager-ing all week, photo credits go to our professional mentor, Kara Lentz.)
