Might sound completely cliche or something, but going to Europe (I'm Canadian FYI) I was always a stellar student, always quite popular, cheerleader, the whole thing. Mid-way through high school I really started falling off the rails a bit- drinking, going out, hanging out with the "wrong" crowd a bit too much, stopped putting in effort in many classes. A school trip to Italy and Germany popped up and I went, many of my best (good influence) friends went too. Spending three weeks in Europe with 20 very well behaved students with real goals seriously helped me. Not just my fellow students, but the history of Europe honestly changed me. I come from a province that is barely 100 years old, and a country that is extremely multicultural. Multiculturalism is great, but the only true, deep history we have is Native American; which is amazing, but I have absolutely no roots to that. I have direct European and African history, both of those are very rich histories that I unfortunately never got the chance to explore. To stand in the Vatican changed me. To know the work that went into these structures, the dedication of preservation over time, the fact that people come from all over the world just to be there- it was something greater than me and my town for once. Getting out of a province of barely one million people showed me that there is an entire world out there full of history and people and beauty, and it would be a damn shame for me to piss it all away with alcohol and shitty grades. I came back from Europe with really, a new perspective on life. I cleaned up my grades, went to counselling, acknowledged that I really should take a year or two off before college to just relax and "find myself" so to speak. I know it sounds so typical and cliche, but traveling to places with such a rich history really did change me. Amazing people, people with struggles, have come before me. Amazing people, that will struggle, will come after me. I'm not the only one, my province isn't all there is, and I owe it to society in a weird way, to put my best foot forward in this short life.