Often we say that it is not only the children whose lives are forever changed by the volunteers of our teams. Victoria Keiser is a senior at Villa Walsh Academy in New Jersey. In her short 17 years on this planet, she has participated in 3 volunteer trips abroad. Below, in her own words, she shares how her participation has changed her life.I grew up helping people. Compassion was in my blood. My dad is an oral surgeon and my mom, a teacher. These wonderful and caring people have formed my 17-year old personality that yearns to help others. In 8th grade when my dad asked me to be a part of his Peru mission trip of 2005, I jumped at the chance. My only words to him were, "Dad, can you promise I won't see any blood?" I grew up wanting nothing to do with medicine. I wanted to be a teacher and be with children every day. I hated the sight of blood, guts, pus, and all those other bodily fluids. I left for Peru and came back a changed woman. I was only 13 years old and after seeing the poverty and medical needs in Peru, I knew I wanted to change my career plan. Oh, I saw plenty of blood and pus in Peru and I realized that it really didn't bother me as much as I thought. I was cleaning the blood off of the dentists' instruments and watching teeth being pulled and children being scared and parents being thankful. I loved every minute of it and I told my dad that I couldn't wait for the next trip. The next trip I went on was to Guatemala in my junior year of high school. I was much more mature and I felt like a bigger part of the team as I was able to make long-lasting friendships with the team members and help out in a bigger capacity. This trip increased my love for helping people and my dream of one day becoming a doctor. My most recent trip was to Belize in my senior year of high school. I sterilized instruments, held hands, taught dental hygiene practice, handed out toothbrushes, and became a true dental assistant. I am committed to Boston University's class of 2014 to study Human Physiology as a pre-med student. I plan to go through medical school and become a pediatric surgeon and lead trips of my own. In the meantime, I am looking forward to continuing helping others and going on these mission trips with my dad learning about other cultures and helping the poor of the world.
