by Gabriela Ponce Guerrero, Ecuador (in Switzerland), ELP 2015 Written on July 18, 2015.   The summer course is close to an end. Each one of us will go back to reclaim what we left behind, to continue what we have postponed, to carry on with our goals and ambitions. We have had three intense weeks of lectures, field trips and, most of all, getting to know each other. The great diversity of the ELP participants was definitely one of the things I enjoyed the most, since we got to experience a truly international environment. We are, literally, from all over the world with unique and inspiring stories. One of the moments I will not forget is when we started singing songs from our respective countries when coming back from one of our field trips. We were all surprised by the deep voice of Mister Hamid while singing in Persian, or by the powerful voice of Jason while singing some old Chinese song. Or when even after a long day we will gather just outside our dorms and start reciting poems, singing, and dancing. We also had so many discussions ranging from the importance of education to food security and overconsumption. We got a glimpse of each other’s experiences and opinions. We became close and formed lasting bonds and memories. With the fear of sounding idealistic (which happens to be my personality type according to the test done in the workshop by Susan Carpenter), I believe that many of the conflicts or problems could be solved or prevented if more and more people get to experience an international community. Once you have formed good memories with people from countries you might not have even heard before, you realize that we, humans, are not as different as you may have thought.