Sofia Ruiz '14.5 is a Starr Fellow living in Mexico City this summer and working on the venture Hands for Latin America. 

The summer is almost coming to an end, and it seems like only yesterday we were still in workshops with our fellow Starrs and mentors talking about our plans for the summer and now it's almost over.

Wrapping up my time here in Mexico I think I've really learned the value of having back-up plans for your back-up plans. Life gets in the way and as an individual, especially as social entrepreneurs, we have to be ready to react, reflect, and adjust. I came to Mexico at the start of these ten weeks with a very neat, organized and (may I add) color-coded plan of what each week was going to look like as well as an extensive list of contacts and people I thought I was going to have on my team to help me on this journey. I can tell you honestly - NONE of the planning I did ever panned out. INSTEAD a whole new plan was forged from a single chance meeting with a friend of a friend of a friend.

I think if I would have to summarize my experience this summer with my venture I would say I underestimated the power of contacts and the infamous "domino effect." I think most of my summer has been meeting with people who then tell me to meet others, thus creating an amazing web of ideas and a community of people truly invested and inspired by my venture. From meeting one of the most powerful media figures in Mexico, Lolita Ayala, who wants to help build my project, to my aunt's ex-college boyfriend... all people willing and able to pull their strengths together to help me build my idea into a reality.

Most important lesson learned: EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED.