By Loc Huynh

I’ll start this blog post with a rather bizarre question for something like this – “How long has it been since my last haircut?” In fact, to the answer to this is it has been a little over two months since my friend Hoang tried to give me one. Unfortunately, it was so bad that it took almost the whole afternoon for Bao to try to fix my hair. I had razor burns and I had to actually recover from a haircut… Thanks Hoang! But I’m not here to boast about a botched haircut because for most of my life, the real question has been “Should I?” On that haircut day, I said “Yes, just give it a try.” That lesson relates a lot to this trip.

For most of my life, I have always been somewhat reluctant to experience new things. Most of the time, I have said no to opportunities when I have had a choice. It’s not because I am a lazy dude, it’s that I have always put too much expectation into how things will turn out and what could happen if I do try something. But, that hasn’t always been the right approach. The more I have said no, the more I have thought about saying yes.

During this school year, I got introduced to the Guatemala trip. At first, I was absolutely stoked about finally going on a Global Ed. trip. It seemed like a good way to spend Thanksgiving. I love visiting new countries and this was a great opportunity. But, as always, when I started thinking about it, that question of “Should I?” kicked in. The gears started clicking. Visa appointments. Vaccinations. Financial aid forms. Doubts. All of that started going in my mind. At one point, I considered saying “No” again. But after countless meetings and phone calls with my parents, I said “Why not?” I might as well try.

The truth is that this trip is not something accidental. It cost $3,000 before financial aid. It took a lot of work from many people. My parents, the school, Cuong, Nhat, Mr. Alter – all of them convincing me. As someone who always overthinks and stresses over logistics, this trip wasn’t easy. But I am glad I said yes.

Anyways, enough of this yapping about opportunities and how I think about them. Let’s talk about what we’ve actually done on this trip.

The first few days felt slow, with lots of travel on planes and in buses. But I was starting to really sense that Guatemala was different from any place I have been before. This is an eye opening place. The people opened my eyes because we got to see right away how people are living. When we installed the stoves, we saw how people are really living. It was kind of a struggle for them because they didn’t have safe resources for cooking. At the same time, the people were happy and I saw how positive they were in their lives. Also, seeing a volcano was eye-opening. We got to watch it erupt and it was really exciting – the first time seeing something active like that.

Because my eyes were opened, the question of “Should I?” started to fade away. I stopped overthinking everything and just started going with the flow. Next thing I knew, I was standing at a barber shop in Cerro de Oro. This is the little village where we’re staying on the lake. Something clicked in my head – it was time for a new haircut, and this time from a professional. Sitting down, it was exciting. This was my first new haircut in a long time. I could only talk a few words with the barber because he didn’t speak English. But, he knew what to do. He could tell what I wanted. The result was a mullet. But the mullet I wanted.

A few hours before the haircut, I was standing 14 meters above Lake Atitlan on a jumping platform. The highest I have ever jumped from was 0 meters before that. The guy running the platform spent at least 2 minutes trying to teach me the right method. He showed me how to jump and how to land. But, of course, those were just instructions…

When it was time for me to actually jump, it was the opposite of what he taught me. Rather than staying straight as I flew through the air, my body went into a sitting position. My arms were out when they were supposed to be in. They were like wings without feathers. The result was a pain throughout my body and some amazing pictures from Carter. I don’t think I would jump again but I will never forget that experience. The feeling of flying and then not flying.

The big lesson from all of this is that the right question is not “Should I?” The question is “What can I learn from saying yes?” Instead of overthinking things and how they will turn out, you should be excited about life. The things that happen might hurt sometimes but they will help you grow and learn.

For the rest of this trip, I am going to try to learn a lot of things. How is the country recovering from the Civil Conflict? How different are the job opportunities in different parts of the country? What is the city like? To answer these, I am going to say yes. I am going to ask questions, try new foods, explore new places, and keen an open mind.