Reason #6 Why YOU Should Go On A HOPE Youth Corps

Alexandra Mobeka explores just what makes HYCs so much fun!

6. Fun. Lots of it.

What is fun? When I was a child, fun was playing house with my dolls. As an adolescent, fun was reading as many books as I could get my hands on. As a teenager, fun always involved the Internet; whether it was watching a funny video or reading a funny article. As I enter my twenties, I know my definition of fun will change again, as it has done with each new stage of life. This is why HOPE Youth Corps is such an anomaly. I have participated in HYCs for nearly five years and each time I participate I can still look forward to the opportunity with as much excitement as I did gifts under the Christmas tree as a child. Why is this? HYCs incorporate two things that will always be fun to the human curiosity; newness and the ability to explore.

On HYCs, I have met people from all over the world and been able to experience new cultures. In Jamaica during the summer of 2014, I was able to learn a new game, similar to handball, and had immense fun attempting to dodge amidst a horde of other teens. In Bahamas during the summer of 2010, I was encouraged to try a new food, conch. Despite my misgivings and my extremely picky taste buds, I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed the conch burger. I was able to explore new things and sate my curiosity. I think that curiosity is such a human characteristic and there tends to be something immensely satisfying and exciting about exploring new things and appeasing ones curiosity. Curiosity killed the cat, the saying goes, but satisfaction brought him back. I believe that HYCs have given me the opportunity to safely and righteously sate my curiosity and enjoy myself while doing so.