Ever since my first visit to Sea World in San Antonio, I completely fell in love with the “Shamu Show”. As a 5-year old, I was convinced I was a mermaid and I loved getting to watch the divers swim and do tricks with the whales and dreamt that someday that would be me. My parents signed me up for a summer program where I was able to go behind the scenes and pet sting rays and baby tiger sharks but if I’m being honest, I only did it because when I turned 14, I would be able to feed the whales. Growing up, I continued to be fascinated with Killer Whales and would draw them all over any available piece of paper I could find. You could say I was obsessed… Last summer, I was searching Netflix and randomly found a documentary with a Killer Whale as the background titled “Blackfish”. If you haven’t already seen it, I would challenge you to watch it when you have free time. It goes beyond the audience and shows what it’s really like inside the tank. A huge part of me has been connected to these whales my entire life and seeing how they were actually treated in captivity broke my heart. Tilikum, the enormous 12,000 lb. whale who was the highlight of the documentary, was responsible for the death of 2 Sea World trainers and one man who trespassed on the property. These tragic events led to extreme safety codes and stirred paranoia about the “Shamu Show”.
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Before Rachel had moved to Haiti, she attended UNT and lived at my house off and on for almost two years. When she got the job at Mission of Hope, it was hard to say goodbye however, I knew she was off to do amazing things! This Christmas, Rachel flew in from Haiti to surprise me and my sister. She came to my Christmas Choir concert and when I saw her I ran up to her and started crying right before I had to go on stage. She spent Christmas Eve Dinner with me and my family where we had a candlelit worship service and read the story of the birth of Jesus. When my aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins left to go home, she took me to look at Christmas lights. I was relieved to finally get to spend some quality time with her again and that I had been “robbed” of the three years that I hadn’t been able to see her every day. However, little did I know that it wasn’t just getting to spend time together that made us close friends, but it was the journey of figuring out life, learning who we have become, and making each moment count no matter what had created an unbreakable bond between us not only as close friends but as sisters. Even though we are all gearing up for Christmas, counting down the days anxiously, racing to get presents, finding the perfect wrapping paper, and throwing decorations all over the house, let’s take a step back for a few minutes to look at a different holiday. That’s right, Thanksgiving. This is the day that we all get the chance to express our thanks for everything we have, cook and devour delicious food, all while spending time with family and friends. But right after this day, we get shoved right back into the world of materialism and the mindset of “mine” and “gimme”, and all of that thankfulness is thrown out of the window. Now, Christmas is a great thing, it’s my favorite holiday! But nowadays, it’s missing something. It’s the thankfulness, and the slowing down of time that we experience to refresh your mind and cherish every moment. The spirit of Thanksgiving should be present in our lives every day. I’m not saying you should indulge in serving upon serving of food for every meal, but that even through Christmas and every other holiday of the year, we should always be thanking people and show our thankfulness through our words and our actions. Too often we get sidetracked with the fast paced world around us and it’s time we took a step back. In Rachel’s blog, she says that “Thanksgiving is that necessary ‘reset’ in [everyone’s] heart and mind to truly prepare [them] for Christmas”. I understand what she means because if we didn’t have that chance to think about why we are thankful, we would never value and learn to treasure the simplest things. Not every family in the world has the opportunities that we do and we tend to take advantage of it. Seeing everything that the Haitian children don’t have-like shoes, a nice house, and even a warm bed-it makes me thankful for the things that I have that I tend to take advantage of. Rachel is a missionary in Haiti and she is in charge of coordinating and organizing the trips for churches who come to Haiti to serve. In her blog, she writes about her experiences in the villages and how she loves to serve with the people around her. I enjoy reading about her journey in her blogs because I share the same interest as she does. I have been on many mission trips since middle school and it truly is life changing. I always go feeling a little lost and leave feeling completely refreshed. A mission trip is extremely tiring because you are giving your all for strangers you’ve never met but you are planting a seed in their lives and sharing life with them and because of your efforts, they are also leaving changed. One example of this was a mission trip to San Angelo, TX. I actually went on the trip with Rachel when she was working under my dad at our church and it was incredible watching her serve. We went to a small church in a neighborhood in poverty and honestly, I didn’t know what to think. By the end of the trip we met amazing people who I would’ve never known and the kids who were crazy at the start became our best friends! Rachel was and still is one of my idols because of her devotion and passion for what she does. We were able to share a happiness with them that they didn’t get to experience every day and made what seemed like a boring place became some of the best memories. The exhaustion was worth it because serving gives you a kind of refreshing energy that coffee can never offer. Hey guys! For the next few weeks I will be following and posting about the life of Rachel Durban who is a blogger that just so happens to be very close to me. I’ve known her since I was 5 years old and she’s like my big sister and one of my all-time favorite people on this planet. I can’t even begin to tell you everything we’ve done together and all of the moments we’ve shared! We’ve had dance parties in her car to Taylor Swift and the Jonas Brothers while singing with the fans turned up on high and our hair blowing everywhere. She’s been with me through all of my fish I couldn’t keep alive, helped me with my math homework, witnessed my awkward phases in middle school, dealing with mean girls and drama, came to all of my birthday parties, watched chick flicks with homemade Rice Krispies in a bowl and crying together because she didn’t get the guy and everything else you could imagine we did together. |
About the Journalist:Alanna is very close friends with Rachel Durban who is a missionary in Haiti who works at Mission of Hope. She helps villages in poverty and giving children love and a place to feel safe. She is Alanna's inspiration and maybe she can inspire you too!
Like what you're reading?Find out more at Hashtagger?Follow Mission of Hope on Twitter and Facebook for more stories or go to YouTube for video footage of mission trips.
You can also go to #missionofhopehaiti on Instagram.
Watch this video from a mission trip at my church!Random stuff to make your day better!Click here to read about Rachel's awkward airplane experiences and her list for things you need to make your trips even better!
Dawn's LegacyDawn dedicated her entire life to the whales. See how the community is giving back through The Dawn Brancheau Foundation!
Tilikum's Tragic StoryDawn was not the only victim from Sea World. Discover where it all started through Tilikum's story.
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Alanna Burnett
Assistant Editor
This is the page for Alanna Burnett. She is a junior in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Academy attending Northwest High School. She aspires to be a Marine Biologist and wants to someday travel to the most exotic places and document all of her adventures. Her passion for people and finding the inner beauty of the world is evident. She loves journalism and strives to connect to other people through the art of writing. She is a strong believer that anyone can make a change. If you are looking for a place to find out how people are impacting the world and making it a better place you’ve come to the right spot!