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Junior Gabby Gonzalez, Senior Krista Cooper, Junior Janai Halsey, me, Junior Jace Alderfer, and Senior Jess Mitchell at "Paradise Island".

CABARETE, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – A 1:15 a.m. wake up call; every high schooler’s dream.

Barely conscious, I roll out of bed, grab my suitcase, and stumble out the front door – it’s 1:35 a.m. Here we go.

As I pull up to Airport Square, about 15 other groggy North Penn students are already there, waiting to pack our JFK-bound bus and get a few more hours of desperately needed sleep.

By the time our group of 45 Knights strong made it to JFK International Airport, it was still an ungodly hour of 4:15 a.m. JFK had too many people to even comprehend even at the wee hours of the morning, but we all finally ended the check-in and security process at about 6-6:15.

But it was all worth it, because by noon, we touched down at the Puerto Plata Airport, in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. Now, I have only left the country once before this-Ireland in 2016-so I had no idea what to expect of the country. On top of that, our group left back when the DR was all over the news for a number of tourists dying at resorts-so needless to say I was a little apprehensive. 

It took all of about an hour for me to realize that those worries were unnecessary.

As soon as we got off the plane, we were greeted with live local music and one of the best tour guides anyone could ever have. Without Luis, who was with us 24/7 for the week, the trip would not have been one tenth as good as it was. He single handedly changed our lives that week.

We eventually made it to our home away from home for the week, The Kite Beach Inn, in Cabarete. Picturesque is not a strong enough word. It felt like we were staying on a movie set, getting to be 100 feet away from a gorgeous beach. Add in two daily meals of the best food I have ever had and the daily afternoon windsurfing crowds, and the inn was truly a slice of paradise.

Despite the stunning scenery and delicious food, the actual service we did was by far the most rewarding and memorable parts of our journey.

Every day around 9 am, we would travel to a local school. Now when I say school, it is nothing like schools here in America. It was a small, two room building with no electricity and limited supplies. None of the students knew significant amounts of English if any, so we worked to teach them the alphabet, colors, and 1-30. A few of the more artistic of our group put together a mural, and on our last day at the school, we all handed our handprints as a way to remember the once in a lifetime experience.

As beneficial and important as those things are, by and large our most concrete addition to the school community was our building of a basketball court. Over the span of four days, we cleared rocks out, mixed cement, poured and scraped the cement, let it dry, and then painted the design for a basketball court. There was a half basketball court that was built during the 2018 service trip, which was honestly the only play area the kids had in their entire neighborhood. Building the other half of the court may not seem like a big deal to you or me, but it fundamentally changed the entire school community.

One moment that I will truly never forget is when me and Senior Jess Mitchell were mixing cement(keep in mind that they have no construction equipment there, so our group had to keep the cement stirred non-stop for the entire day) and the heavens opened up. The Dominican Republic was in a pretty severe drought when we arrived so the rain was well needed. But me and Jess were wet instantly and had to keep the cement stirred so we stayed out there in the rain for at least 20 minutes and got absolutely drenched from head to toe. Once the rain stopped and we could both see through our glasses again, we knew that we wouldn’t be forgetting that moment anytime soon.

On our final full day in the D.R., we added to the seemingly never ending list of once in a lifetime experiences and traveled to Cayo Arena, also known as “Paradise Island”. 

Take a second and picture what paradise looks to you. 

I promise that this island exceeds your wildest imaginations. I truly can not even put into words what it is like to be there in that unbelievably crystal clear water. The pictures 100% speak for themselves.

If any current or future North Penn High School student gets the opportunity to go on this trip, you must! I tried to do my best to explain it in this article, but it really must be experienced to be believed and fully understood. As cliche as it sounds, you will return to the U.S. a different person than when you left. It will be one of the best weeks of your life-because it sure was for me.

I can’t finish reflecting on my trip to the Dominican without recognizing the adults that made it all happen. Although I don’t know how popular “The Knight Crier” is in Cabarete, I have to shoutout Luis, Pedro, and Dwayne, our three locals and tour guides who made us all feel welcome and elated to be in their country. Especially Dwayne, for his iconic dance moves. 

Our North Penn Chaperones – Mr. Schmitz, Montgomery Elementary’s Meg Gallagher, and Retired Nurse Sally Kauffman kept us safe, made us work hard, and helped us realize how much we take for granted and how much of a learning experience the trip truly was.

Finally, Dr. Hall and his family – without your months of planning and international coordination, absolutely none of the successes from the trip would’ve been possible. You put your heart and soul into every aspect of the trip to make it the best possible experience. Our nightly “Reflections” are some of the most genuine, honest conversations I have ever been a part of. It was better than I ever could’ve imagined.