How I came to be in Belize

   Something I have been asked a couple of times is how I ended up in Belize, and it's a question I have trouble answering. Every time I answer that question the answers seem to be slightly different. I think that's because there were multiple factors that played into my coming to Belize, and also a lot of time spent thinking about all the different options I had after I graduated.

   So lets go back to the beginning of grade 12 (that seems like such a long time ago!!) For those of us who didn't know what we wanted to do with our life, this can be an overwhelming time. I found out that the options are pretty much endless (but who didn't know that). So at the beginning of grade 12, I started exploring some of the many different options. I have always loved to travel, missions, and kids. So something that involved those was what I focused my search on. I was also ok with missing out on a Manitoba winter :)  But to be honest all the looking did was stress me out. School picked up and things got really busy, and any thoughts about what I was going to do after I graduated got put on the back burner. Eventually it was time to start thinking about it again. Some of the things that had been suggested to me were going to bible school, going to college for my Early Childhood Education, and coming down to Belize to help my mom's cousin. I tossed all the ideas around and looked into them all. With each option there was a lot to consider. At times it even seemed that there was not wrong option. Then, there were times I thought I had it figured out and then something else would be mentioned and I would explore that rabbit trail, but it always led me back to the same place. Belize. My parents had mentioned it on many different occasions, and they had sometimes suggested it even earlier. They even said that they would come down for a couple weeks, and then they would just leave me here. That was not going to happen, even if this is what I decided, because I thought I would just want to come home with them.

    After much praying and thinking and exploring different options, I finally told my parents that I wanted to come down to Belize. Shortly after I got the contact information for Margaret and we started communicating on what something like this would look like. It was only after a couple emails that I said that I would like to come down. At the time I wasn't sure how long I wanted to come, but my parents sujested a minimum of 1-2 months, and I was thinking not more that 6 months. So then began the process of deciding on how long I wanted to come down. We talked about before Christmas for a couple months, and then working when I got back. And we talked about after Christmas for a couple of months and working before I left. This was in April/May when I decided what I was going to do, and then I had to make the next decision as to how long.

    So then came graduation, and I was still trying to decide how long I wanted to come to Belize. Every time I thought and prayed about it, going for a couple months before Christmas didn't feel right and a couple months after Christmas didn't feel right either. But I will get to that in a bit. Anyways graduation came and I was looking into what it would look like to go for my Early Childhood Education, when I got back from Belize. I had wanted to take it in Portage but they weren't offering the fist year for the fall of 2016. So I was still looking into some different options. Going to school in Winnipeg was an option, but something I wasn't sure if I wanted to do. The night before graduation my friend made a comment about living in the city and I realized that I actually knew of quite a few people that were going to school in the city. So it was at graduation or shortly there after that I decided I would apply to go to Red River College in Winnipeg at the end of the summer.

   Not too long after I made the decision that I would leave for Belize shortly after Thanksgiving and return before Easter. That would allow me 5 months. And when I started looking for flights and booking a flight it turned out to be 5 months pretty much to the day. I left home on October 14 and will return to Canadian soil on March 16. Every time I thought about how long I should go, this is the time that just felt right. Even if it meant spending Christmas away from my family, and my birthday :)

   I spent the summer working at camp as an administrative assistant to my mother, and assisting anyone else that needed assisting :) After summer I was able to spend some time with my family before the brothers headed back to school and the parents back to camp. The month of September and first half of October was spent preparing to come down to Belize. For 2 weeks I volunteered at a preschool to get in volunteer hours that I needed as part of my application process for school. It was spent seeing friends and family, and also applying for school. The time sure flew by fast and pretty soon it was time to say "See you later".

   And now here I am in Belize, and only have 1 month left. It's amazing how time has flown by. I am looking forward to going home and reconnecting with my family and friends, but I am also leaving a family here. It will be a bitter sweet month as I prepare to go back home, and as I say "see you later" to the ones here. At this point I'm not sure what is in store for me once I get home. I will have to write a test to finish up my application for going to school, and then I can hopefully be officially accepted. But from the time I arrive home until the time school starts in the fall, well those are some more decisions that I have to make. At this point I'm just tossing around different ideas.

   And I guess that is how I chose Belize. I have no regrets of my time spent here, and I am thankful this experience and all that I have learned from it. Not just while I have been down here, but in the months leading up to even making the decision.