Hey everyone ! Como estan? My name is Francis and I am an intern for NYCUP. I intern at Operation Exodus in the Washington Heights or to you dominicans los guashington heights. When I first heard about NYCUP it was at an event my school had called the Human Wrong Campaign. It was about human trafficking and the key note speaker was Jonathan Walton the NYCUP director. So as many of you might have heard the "so there's a tree" story (feel free to ask), I went head over heels in love with the idea of NYCUP. The fact that I could spend 6 weeks in the South Bronx with 12 amazing college students whose purpose was to solely love and serve your neighbor, I WAS IN! 

Before I started NYCUP a brother of mine was like "dude, you guys should be called 'The Real World Bronx'". As I thought about it he was right. I was going to be living with 11 other people from different backgrounds and customs. Ayeeee :| But the good thing was that there was going to be no alcohol and no scripts ;) So July 1st rolled around and here I am driving from Jersey to NY thinking what the next 6 weeks was going to hold. So many questions crossed my mind like shouldn't I be working or shouldn't I be going to Haiti but then I found peace and knew that God wanted me here. 

1800 Grand Concourse & 175th is where we reside. I love the South Bronx! Being Latina and familiar with the culture, I fell right into place. Some of the other interns had culture shock but adapted to the community. The first week we had to do a scavenger hunt in the community of the South Bronx. [Shout out to michelle will and mike because our team won the scavenger hunt] Some of the things we had to find was maduros, dominican ice, and my favorite.. opened fire hydrants because in the Bronx every other street the kids would be playing with fire hydrants and cars would get a car wash... how ghetto! 

To fast forward, now there's only 2 more weeks left. Time has gone by so fast. From bike riding on governor's island to taking kids on a field trip using the subway, NYCUP has been quite a handful yet delightful experience. My whole outlook on life has changed. It's very different to pass a homeless guy and feel sorry and do nothing whereas you take time to talk to the person and be a light in their life. It says in Galatians 5:14 to "love your neighbor as yourself". How would it look like if we truly loved our neighbor as ourselves? If we were to be selfless and be a lending hand to a stranger? I challenge you guys to rethink this whole thing we call life and ask what is your reason to live, breath? Why do you live where you are and why do you go to that school? The ugly thing is that life i