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Unprepared and immature I stumbled into the Environmental Engineering major at Cornell. The rigors of engineering were a rude awakening. Having glided through public school with all A's and almost no effort, I simply did not know how to work so many hours and study properly. Not knowing what else I would do and not wanting to simply take the easy way out, I struggled through the Cornell curriculum. My GPA was abysmal to say the least, and I constantly questioned why I remained on this career path. Then I stumbled upon CEE 2550 and I was formally introduced to AguaClara. On the Outreach team I had a smooth introduction to the program. The nature of the work, which I would truly not understand until much later, was honorable and the class functioned not like a competition, as I had experienced in many of my previous engineering courses, but more like a business where everyone is working towards a common goal. After CEE 2550, I knew that I had to get more involved with the program.
I then took CEE 4540 and the technical applications sparked my interest in a way that no other class had yet done. We were not simply doing problem sets of textbook questions; we were analyzing and understanding the physical equations and processes that governed the construction of water treatment plants that had been built and were fully functional.
Then I was given the opportunity to participate in the yearly trip to Honduras. The trip to Honduras unveiled to me the social context under which the AguaClara program operates. We met local families whose towns were plagued by water borne diseases caused by poor water quality. Compared to most of the towns that we visited our toilet water is of much higher quality than their kitchen sink. I had heard many times before that these people did not have access to clean drinking water but simply hearing it is just not the same as what our group experienced. In contrast when we visited the AguaClara plants that had previously been built in Honduras, the towns were happy to pay for such high quality water at the price we could provide to them with the technology We had helped to develop. The trip to Honduras gave us a me the big picture perspective that Cornell academics fails had failed to acknowledgeconvey. At Cornell it is easy to get wrapped up in the stress of grades, In AguaClara it is about so much more than that. In AguaClara almost everyone gets exceptional grades, not because it's an easy course but because the social context of the course gives students purpose and motivation to far exceed the effort and passion they would exert for a grade.
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My experience in Honduras was simply unforgettable. This was my first trip to Latin America and I was captivated by the pervasive scenic beauty of the area and struck by the warmth of the people in the small towns that AguaClara services. I can't really say the same about the atmosphere in the big cities we visited, but I guess that's to be expected. The metropolitan centers were very interesting though. But for me, the small towns were the jewels of the trip - brimming with a deep sense of community, a plethora of local handmade crafts, and great experiences with local folk. Some of these experiences include helping with tortilla making at Dona Hilda's place, getting to know the host families, learning about coffee bean preparation, trying to make small talk while having the Spanish language skills of 3-year old Honduran (if even that) and everyone's great sense of humor when I accidently confused swear words for appropriate words in the process, and making friends who I'll cherish for long after the trip.
The trip itself had a diverse time-efficient itinerary that was packed full of fun and interesting things. We explored both rural and metropolitan centers, hiked around Pico Bonito/other, went to a beach and a swimming hole, attended a cultural event (I think it was called the Dance of the Saints), explored a cave; visited a Spanish oven, a sugar plantation, and local markets. It made two weeks seem more like a month and that's awesome. Oh, and the food was great - lots of avocados.
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