How a 2-week trip reshaped a young man’s future.

Gavin arrived in Fiji as a “typical underachiever with amazing potential.” What he left with was something far deeper — purpose, maturity, and real-world leadership skills that changed the direction of his life.

FULL STORY:
"This is a personal statement from Stephan Amrol, father to Gavin, who was one of the volunteers:

➡️ For OOCSA:

The 2-week OOCSA volunteering experience worked wonders for helping our son redefine his goals in life and motivated him to be a more proactive participant in his community. Before attending, our son was described by his teachers as a 'typical underachiever with amazing potential.' He had the intelligence and the social awareness to navigate interpersonal relationships well but was used to operating with a 'lowest common denominator' mindset.

Two weeks in Fiji with the OOCSA program taught him the value to be gained by working with others to achieve something greater than himself. He learned humility with compassion, how to define goals and structure and prioritize his time to achieve them, and he was given precious opportunities to develop more maturity by practicing real-world leadership skills through heartfelt discussions and planary conversations with the local leaders—who in turn bolstered our son's self-esteem and confidence by incorporating his perspectives into community action.

Thank you Gabrielle Simson-Frank and OOCSA team for creating and leading this amazing service opportunity. Of the many programs we looked at for our son, yours with OOCSA provided the most hands-on experiences with real-world skill building, with just the right balance of challenges outside his comfort zone and opportunities for fun team-building through your wonderful personal connections with the Fijian community. I will be recommending many other families to send their children on this trip."