Submitted by a student on the 2020 winter session program in Hawaii sponsored by the Department of Biological Sciences…
Over the past week, I learned to be grateful for the experiences on my program and the resources I have at home. When we went to the Big Island, we first stayed in Hilo to learn about volcanoes. I knew Hilo would be different from Waikiki, but I did not expect such drastic differences in welfare. Hilo had a lot more noticeable poverty, which made me grateful for where I live now and the resources I have at home. Later in the week, one of my roommates had to go home for a family emergency. This made me appreciate my own health and wellbeing of my friends and family. It also was not until my roommate left that I realized how much I would miss her and how integral she was to the group. My roommate was like a second TA and we were already good friends by the time she had to leave halfway through the program.