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

Although it's only the beginning of the summer, I have already learned that PATIENCE is everything, and nothing is ever as you expect it to be. Being here in Mexico so far - a week now to be exact - I’ve already run into an array of frustrating “administrative” hurdles. Having come ready to work all day, with detailed plans of what each day was going to look like, I’ve quickly learned that back-up plans and flexibility are paramount to running a successful venture.

So far, I’ve been doing a good job (or so I think) in following up with my contacts and trying to ensure some sort of accountability with the people that are part of my venture and helping me through this ordeal. But as I said, nothing is like you expect and no one around you is as invested in your project as you yourself are. As such it really all comes down to self-motivation and your willingness to make your venture work at ALL costs.

I have some exciting things planned for this summer and lots of publicity events to try and get my idea and venture fully off the ground and hopefully it all pans out. As of now I’m just trucking along, trying to make people as excited as I am about my venture, being as organized as possible and taking it one day at a time.