After spending two years at TLC, it’s become more than a home to me. I’ve been reflecting on my
time at TLC and adjusting to life back in the US. To say it’s a lot to process is an understatement.

Honduras and the US are both wonderful places and each has its positives and
negatives. If you know anything about TLC, you know that it’s located in the middle of the
mountains and that we don’t get out often. One of my newfound appreciations in the US is
jumping in my car, going to the grocery store and dreaming up what I want to eat, and making
it! And knowing I can go back the next day to do it again! This is a privilege we don’t have at
TLC. However, I think one of the hardest things about the US is the lack of community and
social interaction. I have been surprised at how little we talk to others even when there are
millions surrounding us. At TLC, in the middle of nowhere, I woke up to breakfast with 60
people I loved every day. And there is nothing quite like it.

As I think about my time at TLC, I have confirmation that it has been the people that
make it so wonderful. From the staff members that I got to work with, to the students I got to
teach, they are amazing. I learned that it’s a choice to always love one another and to serve one
another. At TLC, it’s not an option to be mean or act rudely and that changes the environment
of everything. When it has been decided that kindness is the requirement, it fills a place with
love and laughter, and joy.

I learned so much at TLC. But I think most importantly, that it’s fun to be a student and
it’s so much easier when we don’t have to know everything. I learned about farming, animals,
cooking, sewing, dancing, and Honduran culture. I think in my second year I learned a very
valuable lesson. That was that even though I had learned so much about Honduras, I still had so
much more to learn. As I am writing this now, I still feel the same. Cultural is so complex and I
have learned that I will always be a student of it.

My hope for myself is that I can take many of the things I learned at TLC and continue
doing them here. I want to be appreciative, to be kind always, and to be a student. My hope is
that one day each of you could experience this place firsthand and learn something from a
place I’ll always call home.