Youthlinc General Orientation Points WSU Student in the Right Direction

Many people have a compass that can point them in the right direction.

When the direction points to a humanitarian trip, there are so many questions that need to be answered, including local service hours and trip costs.

The Youthlinc General Orientation, at the University of Utah on Saturday Nov. 12, 2011, has answered many of those questions.   As for the service hours, they vary depending on what type of trip a person goes on.  I chose to serve in Guatemala and I need to do 60 service hours.  For the trip costs, both the sponsorship and the first deposit will help pay for a part of my trip costs.

The event started with a General Orientation that highlighted the mission of Youthlinc, trip costs, and service hours, which was led by Youthlinc executive director Judy Zone.  Other speakers included Julia Wee, Youthlinc's local service director, who spoke about local service being done by participants, which involved interacting with people and developing an emotional bond with them.

After the Orientation Meeting was over, I really enjoyed the Service Fair.  Different organizations, like Salt Lake Regional Hospital, have given Youthlinc participants opportunities to complete their local service hours with them.   The fair made it a lot easier to find suitable volunteer organizations where I could complete 60 service hours at.

After the fair, I finally got to meet my Guatemala team and my team leaders Mark and Shelley Burningham.  There were many high school students and their parents, but there were two families from my home neighborhood.   There is one Weber State student named Kaitlyn East who is in my group.  I have a wonderful group of people whom I will be working with during this experience.

After the orientation meeting, my neighbors and I went to Thaifoon at the Gateway Mall in Salt Lake City to discuss our plans to fundraise our own money for the Guatemala humanitarian trip.   I also discussed with them about what Guatemala is really like since I've been to the country in 2004. 

The biggest thing I'll be looking forward to is not only my local service, but helping out the native Mayan people in Guatemala to be self-sufficient. 

Shelley Burningham, at left, and Aubrey Marz (in the gray sweater) sorts through
folders for the Youthlinc Guatemala Team members in the Warnock Engineering Building
at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday Nov. 12, 2011.  Burningham is the team leader for Youthlinc Guatemala and Marz is an alumni leader with experience in Youthlinc's humanitarian trips.  (Photo/Austen Snow)

Various booths were set up at the Youthlinc Orientation Meeting
at University of Utah's Warnock Engineering Building on Saturday November
12, 2011.   Throughout the meeting, every Youthlinc member
chose to serve on a certain team, each representing the countries of
Guatemala, Peru, Thailand, Cambodia, and Kenya. (Photo/Austen Snow)