Sadly, I can not say that I have travel to amazing places out of the country and how incredible it was to see a whole new culture in an entirely different hemisphere and how different it was. The farthest west I've been in the United States is Missouri. Any other trip has been north or south of Kentucky like Florida and New Jersey.

I've been on mission days with my youth group where we've visited local places that have helped me and changed my perspective more than I was able to help them in any way. But I haven't gotten to experiencew-hat i consider a true mission trip- leaving my home and dedicating days to help people in need. The trips I have been on I will always remember and even when I did things at my church and people came to us it was eye-opening to see what people truly experience compared to how easy most of us get it.

The most cultural trip that was eye-opening to me was when I went to New Orleans in 2012, a few years after Hurricane Katrina, The city was still recovering and many people were still with out homes. The city smelled terrible and on the streets there was a horrendous amount of trash. It  was nothing what I thought it would be like. I was 12 so I was aware cities were different than Lexington but I didn't know some where this awful and sad. I can still tell you most of the details about the trip and how many people were sleeping in alleyways and buildings were still destroyed from Katrina.

Mission trips and my trip to New Orleans have been the most eye-opening to me as to how well off and fortunate that my family and I are. These trips have humbled me and make me really think of what other people have had to deal with and to keep an open mind. Not judging someone because of the events that have happened to them and how it has led them to were there are now.