By Wen Hsin, computer science professor

As I age, one of the most important lessons that I have learned is to be grateful for what you are given. I have so much to be thankful for from this trip.

I am thankful for the Brazil Service Learning committee headed by Olga Ganzen for choosing me to help teaching computer literacy. I am thankful for having Mike Lane with whom to team-teach and bounce off ideas. I am thankful for our translator, Leonardo Sa, who took time off from his job to help us out and made up his work time in the evening and late into the night, and Lucas, who skipped classes to put us first in his priority list. I am thankful for the students in computer class whose eagerness to learn, lovely smiles, and thumb-up communication make the teaching very enjoyable and rewarding. I am thankful for Steve Youngblood’s advise “to go with the flow” with which I practiced during the entire trip, (well, almost the entire trip, except that name change episode in my airplane tickets). I am thankful to get to know the existence of a wonderful organization, Transformational Journeys, headed by Dan Hickey. I am thankful for giving an opportunity to get to know many colleagues and students in a deeper level and their humorous side. I am thankful to get to know Una’s story and admire her courage and faith. I am thankful for the loving community, teaching me that happiness does not build on material goods. I am thankful to get to experience the zeal expressed by the Brazilians in the soccer games, get to walk on their lovely beaches, and get to see the lovely dancing people. Finally and most importantly, I am thankful for my husband who let me explore this trip and take care of our normal busy schedule, and my daughters who were without mommy for 10 days and reluctantly let me skip their once-a-year school play.

One of the Chinese poets once said that “…. There is so much to be thankful, so let me thank the sky.” And that is exactly how I feel right now.