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I was sitting on the plane holding onto my passport with my sweaty palms. I could feel a rush of excitement but also my heart was racing with a fear of the unknown. I was on my way to a two week service trip to Jamaica with a group of people I had never met before. This was the first time I was travelling somewhere without my parents and I was so excited for this new form of freedom I was about to gain. The idea of helping people while being able to see a new place sounded ideal to me. However, little did I know how different this trip was going to be from what I expected it to be. The moment we stepped off the plane and onto Jamaican soil, I could feel the tropical heat being absorbed into my skin. Everything was different, it reminded me a lot of Bangladesh, my motherland. The streets were unpaved, there was chaos everywhere and the first thought that went through my head was, "ah yes, these people need my help" as if I was some sort of savior. But I didn't think or feel this way because I had a huge ego or anything. Instead, I felt this way because as I grew up in my upper middle class life, this is how people described service trips. They were almost these "feel good" trips students went on to feel like they made an impact on the world and a nice anecdote to put on their college admission application. Therefore, my naive self thought just the same. We took a bus to a commune just outside he capital. It was an eco-farm where the towns people were completely self sufficient. They built everything from the earth and their bare hands. I walked into the hostel we were staying in and my jaws dropped, it looked like a cabin I went to every winter with my parents and their friends. I met the people who were in charge of the area and learned that they were very educated people who wanted to live an environmentally friendly lifestyle. And my first thought was wow, these people don't need my help, I need theirs. America can learn so many of their life style methods. We eventually helped them dig a pond in their back yard which they planned on using to teach the kids in schools about the aquatic ecosystem. They really didn't need the help of twelve unfit high school students but they thought it was a good opportunity to teach us about their way of life. This trip was very eye opening to me because I don't think I actually made any form of impact for a single person in Jamaica. However, I left with a whole new perspective on travel and service. When you travel to a new country, you should never go with the mindset of how you can leave a mark but rather what you can learn from the experience. I think travel is an amazing opportunity for growth, it forces you to go out of your comfort zone and learn about people and a way of life you have never seen before. After this trip, I was inspired to start my own initiative- teaching younger students about environmental topics using outdoor education and hands on education.