Vale la Pena

Debbie Mercer: Hello, I'm Debbie Mercer, Dean of the College of Education at Kansas State University, I am pleased to introduce the film Vale la Pena, which in Spanish means worth the pain or worth the struggle. Since 2012, the College of Education and our campus partners have had the honor of hosting approximately 500 teachers from Ecuador as part of the Go Teacher program. These are experienced English teachers who left their homes and families for several months, and up to a year, for those earning a master's degree. The goal is to perfect their English, learn their teaching strategies and infuse their new classrooms with these new skills. This has been a rich learning experience for everyone involved and the Go Teachers have left an indelible mark on our K-state faculty students and communities. Theirs is a collective story of sacrifice and determination and of a nation that believes investing in education will ensure its economic future. American people, they want exactly the same, that the Ecuadorean people want. We all work towards the same goals. We want a good job. We want to do something that we're passionate about. A nice family. People who love and support us. A good place to live. Somewhere we are happy to call home. And this. When you think about it, we have more in common than we do apart. Doing exactly the same things.

[Text on screen] In 2012, the government of Ecuador partnered with Kansas State University to help revolutionize the English language training of the country's English teachers. In May of 2012, Ecuador sent 87 teachers to Kansas for an intensive four-month program to improve their English, gain new teaching strategies, and acquire skills and tools they could implement back in their schools. With help of other U.S. partner institutions, Kansas State University has provided professional development for 1,058 English teachers to date.

Catalina Duque Claudio: The government was offering to English teachers a program, and the name was Go Teacher.

Veronica Morales de Graber: When I first knew about the program, I was very excited because it was something different, not any other government before had ever done something like this, to offer a chance to teachers to go to another country to improve their teaching skills, that's something huge. All these experiences there, during the training, will help the teachers to be more effective with their students.

Jeysi Torres Cabrera: This is not only to learn a language, besides it was the opportunity to learn the culture, because when we learn a new language it is the opportunity to learn that culture too.

Fernando Cornejo, Technical Manager, YACHAY: [speaking in Spanish] The exchange of customs has been very important. Let's not forget that it is not only about exchanging academic knowledge, but also cultural aspects. So, when it first opened, I said to myself, I'm going to be there. I'm going to be part of this new challenge. I'm going to take this opportunity.

Dean Sue Maes, Kansas State University Global Campus: Well I think as a lot of people now realize, Ecuador has made a major commitment to enhancing English speaking. They know that if they�re going to really move from a developing country to a more powerful country in the world, that English is one of the key methods to do so.

Melissa Holmes, Associate Director, KSU Center for Intercultural and Multilingual Advocacy: We have done study abroad trips to other countries but it's the first time to bring a large group of teachers to K-State. So we were very happy about that, for K-State in general, for our college in particular and just the fact that we would get to spend time with them and I think that's what differentiates this program from many is that we have in-service, people who are working teachers who are already passionate and committed to their profession, coming here to K-State, so we get to learn from them.

Dr. Socorro Herrera, Melissa Holmes, Executive Director, KSU Center for Intercultural and Multilingual Advocacy: We've given a whole lot because we see it as an investment in the future of children and families and teachers. And so, the depth has been much greater and the commitment on our part has been much greater. I think most of us at K-State University who've worked with the Ecuadorian students feel like Ecuador is our sister country and so to provide an opportunity for our undergraduates, our future teachers to go and be in the system there and finish out linking what they learnt from the teachers who were here, first will be exciting, fulfilling. It's kind of like patting yourself on the back as a teacher, as an educator and saying, look our students now are learning here and they're teaching here.

[Text on screen] In 2014, a group of Kansas State preservice teachers travelled to Ecuador for a three-week service-learning trip. Meanwhile, members from the first group of Go Teacher graduates returned to Kansas State University to participate in a rigorous master's degree program. This is their story.

Tess Ostermiller: Hello, my name is Tess Ostermiller and I am excited to go to Ecuador. I've never left the country. I've traveled all over the United States but never left the country. So, I think for me going over there and actually applying these techniques is going to be beneficial. And they tell us all the time how excited these kids are to learn and that the desk doesn't matter to them and the piece of paper that they have doesn't matter, but they're there because they want to be. Because they don't have to be there. My family, they're excited for me, but they're nervous for me to leave the country. I'm accident prone so they're kind of worried about that, but opportunities like this don't come up very often. You have to take that chance and it's been my dream to travel the world, so this is my starting point.

Jamee Schwartz: I want to use this experience as a really great learning experience. My husband was, well can I go? I really want to go. I want to go. My family, they are all really surprised that I would be wanting to do something like this, and that I am going on my own and so, therefore this experience is going to be so much different because I won't have like that safety net.

Sharon Garcia: I'm very attached to my family and I get homesick a lot so I know about the first couple of days I'm going to be calling my mom and saying mom why did you let me do this. I first started doing dental hygiene and then when I was at the community college, we took a trip to Chicago and I just fell in love with what the teachers in Chicago were doing. They were trying to incorporate culture and teaching other languages to their students and I thought, that's something that I want to do. I'm super excited to be visiting Ecuador. I can't wait I wish it was tomorrow. I'm really excited and ready to take on this new adventure.

Aura Gabriela Munoz Veneras: My name is Gabriella Munoz and I come from a town which is called [xx] but my family is very big. My parents pass away several years ago, I'm the youngest you know, but I have many nephews and nieces okay, they are adolescents some of them, they are kids and I like taking them to the movies or to the  swimming pool, or to the park. I enjoy spending my time with them. And I guess I am their favorite aunt.

Israel Guillermo Bravo Bravo: My family we are really united we are really together in the holidays, Christmas, we try to spend, most of the times on those special locations together. My father used to encourage us, my sister and me a lot until you learn English because always tell us that English is going to be, it's going to open you to the future, and all of that knowledge, enough practical knowledge we can bring all the students in different ways.

William Eduardo Yugsan Gomez: I wanted to study master's degree for quite some time but because I was working here and there but I couldn't do it. And I always had in mind that fact that I wanted to do that not in Ecuador, but in a different country, especially in U.S. and here I am. My mom she was very happy about it. We're really close, right, because I don't have a father. I never met him and my mom she said, just one year, go for it.

Israel: With the classes that I have so far here in KSU, I came to realize that we as teachers have all of this new knowledge about methodologies to try in teaching and those can be applied not only to teaching English, but also teachers from all disciplines like science, history, math.

William: This is the beautiful thing about education. Probably a doctor maybe is going to stop studying around 10 years and I have enough of it or something like that, but for teachers no.

Aura: It was like, this is your time, as some people say God was reserving this for you, and you were patient and now you have it.

Tess: We got here at night and we couldn't see anything, but in the morning when we woke up and looked out the door and looking out, because it's just so beautiful. It's adventurous, there's always something new to do. It's gorgeous. It's kind of breath-taking, how high the altitudes of the mountains and the clouds. Right, so we are hiking. Yes, so warm up and then we will get to the [xx]. We are walking down and then coming back up and then walking and then coming back up to take the cable car, go exercise. Gorgeous, it's the most beautiful place I have ever been. I mean the landscape was gorgeous and every day you wake up and it was just gorgeous. Beautiful, calm, relaxing and nice. We saw stuff we have in Kansas so when I get the opportunity to see the forest or the waterfalls, always a good experience. Pictures don't do this place justice and as many pictures that are taken, I can't tell them in that how beautiful it's when you show up to Ecuador. How do I describe the culture and the experience in Ecuador? Often, it's traditional wear, the smells and the different fruits and vegetables and how many? My favorite would be seeing the indigenous people when we go to the market, buying stuff from the vendors. They want to make you happy, they want to be tour guide, they want to show you around. They're so proud of their country. Ecuadorean people are friendly, and the people in Manhattan are friendly too. They are like open-minded people and they embrace culture. Everybody is very nice, everywhere you go here for example, if somebody looks at you, they smile, they say hi. Being one of the most surprising things here is that you can see a sense of community, they're really nice, and even though the students come from all over the states of the U.S and different countries, you can feel that sense of community. Well, I think that media sometimes portrays America in some specific ways.

Consuelo Marisol Gallardo Changotasig: I got some little assumptions before I came here. My previous adviser and program director, he told me everything is going to be alright, you're going to be safe, so I fortunately decided to come here. The first week was okay because don't have classes immediately, so we have the chance to visit different places, to go around. I was really, really happy. I was taking pictures, all the places around, visiting some places, meeting new people, what [xx] and also to the Best Buy, I love to see the technology. I like the buildings, the way they look, and the grass and trees. I really enjoyed going to the Konza Prairie because I was able to see the sunset and it was awesome. I think that in my country we also have that, but I don't have the opportunity enjoy that. Being outside and taking time for yourself is really, really nice. We had the time to get together not to do educational things, but to actually know each other. One, two, three, smile. We had a chance to talk and to know more about us, our lives. Those are not only my classmates, but also my friends.

[text onscreen] El Gran Consorcio � The Great Partnership

Mona Menking, Associate Director for International Outreach, KSU Center for Intercultural and Multilingual Advocacy: In fall of 2011, an idea was born by President Correa to improve English language education in Ecuador. I was contacted by a friend from my master's program in Ecuador who was at the Ministry of Education, with an email that said, something big is going down, do you want to be part of it? We had the opportunity to be part of the conversation at the University of Mississippi and we were asked to bring on partner institutions.

Sue Maes: I got a call from Mona Menking, and Mona said, would like to have a group of Ecuadorians who are wanting to improve their English skills, could Kansas state host such a program? And I said, give me two days, and I'll see. So brought together the office of international programs and the college of education's center for ESL and teaching.

Mary Wood, Director, Kansas State University English language Program: My boss, Dr. Sabates, called me upstairs and said Dr. Sue Maes has a potential project, is there something that we could go to be involved. I said, Oh yeah, we'd love to be involved, so I went down stairs wrote a proposal and in two days I had an email saying, okay, on March 8th you need to be in Ecuador at 10:30 in this space, and I'm, OK, and I was very lucky because Dr. Herrera also agreed to go.

Dr. Socorro Herrera: In a couple days, do you want to go Ecuador, of course with me, that's like, yeah, let's go to Ecuador, that sounds fun, let's go for 24 hours. And basically, Mary Wood and Sue Maes, myself and Mona, got on the plane two days later and flew to Ecuador and came in and it's like well, two weeks from now or three weeks from now you're going to get all of these students.

Melissa Holmes: Yes three weeks is probably when she first heard and I was brought in a conversation where we were about two weeks into it, so it was, we have two weeks, do we think it's possible, is everyone on board, and we all jumped, said this sounds fantastic, it's exciting.

Dr. Herrera: I think through learning about Ecuador's educational systems, compiling the themes that emerge from the voices before they arrive. I think all of us have become better, faculty better instructors, as a result of having to think through, who is the participant? What are their needs, and how do I move towards having those needs met?

[text on screen] Comparando los Sistemas � Comparing the Systems

Male voice: The fact that there are big differences between Ecuador and U.S. regarding the educational system is real.

Consuelo: After finishing high school, they just get a job, and then they have a family and that's it, they don't seek the opportunity that is available for everyone.

Israel: I will say that most of the kids have parents that didn't finish high school, and probably because of that, teachers and parents also involved, don't have those high expectations of the kids.

Consuelo: The education was better in private schools, but now that we have like an overall curriculum, now the things are changing in Ecuador.

Israel: All the schools are getting more support from the government but it still we need to work, we need to continue working on that.

Gabriela: Being part of the educational system of the United States, it was really different. 

William: It's not the teacher that comes to class and lectures for two hours, so teacher say "okay", so this Literature Circle, is the theory you should know about this, but let's do this. 

Male voice: We have to reflect, to analyze, and then we have to grind down our ideas. I think that it was not an easy task I think it has been difficult.

Gabriela: I knew it was going to be hard because here we should read a lot. We should write a lot.

William: They asked me if studying here is hard and I told them yes. How hard? In four days, I haven't slept 10 hours and that's true. It is time right now. We have a lot of things to do, we have the internship, we have two classes, we have to write this final white paper, we have to be very portfolio, many things.

Israel: I know that probably most of these teachers, they're going back teaching whether. They're going to fail this issue, having other resources, all that American resources.

Adry Solano Ochoa: We have group classes, but not enough. We don't have the technology, we have to share one CD player for two or three English teachers because we have around 40 students per class, and I have six classes.

Female voice: Our sizes are way bigger than what we're used to, and they all range from different ages. So new things.

Female voice: It's very different when you walk in there. They still do an awesome job teaching. This journey is been one that I will never forget, and that will change my career as a teacher, and the way I look at we have in America. And I learned to adapt. I learned how to do something differently without the resources.

Jose Boroto Carrasco: I've got to say that there were two things that changed at K-State. First was how I would feel with students. The tools that they gave us, the collection of techniques, that changed me as a person. It was like leveling up as a teacher. I became more confident about myself.

Female voice: Here the teachers are teaching the same methods and techniques that we've been learning K-State, so that's being nice to see how they actually work in a classroom.

Veronica: So, when it comes the class as a go teacher, it is different. It is not, other way is like everybody talking, students in different groups, everybody trying to get involved trying to give their opinion inside the groups so it's different.

Male voice: The kids feel like it's not a class they just love it and that's the cool thing about these strategies.

Roxanna Rodriguez Silvestre: They're responding, ready to be friends because I have asked them, how do you feel about it, did you like it, what did you like most? Yes, to me I like it because it's different, is not just making grammar exercises, it's not just like standing there and being sat there looking at the wall and copying things, is like we move in class, we work, we speak, we develop, we improve.

Female voice: Now the classes are different teachers make student who work in groups, using this collaborative learning, and students are participating more, trying to speak and trying to teach English as a language.

Female voice: As an English teacher we have great expectations, we have a big expectation, because we have to change, we want to change. All let's do this. We don't want to have the same education that we have we want to have a different one.

Male voice: That there's only one way to change the system, it's actually being ourselves, teaching what we're trying to teach. I go to school, and I see that all of these crazy things, really works

[text on screen] Sacrificios - Sacrifices

Female voice: For me the biggest sacrifice I've had to make is eating.

Sharon: Every day I would turn to Jamie, we would be hungry for mac and cheese and we tried to look for it at the store, but they didn't have any, so when I got here, the first thing I did was, I ate mac and cheese.

Female voice: And this got the [unintelligible] reunion which families come from Arizona and Alabama, and all over to meet up sort of a great time. Overall, it was a great experience, and I would do it again.

Tess: We were actually in the culture, like we were the ones that went somewhere new, and we were the ones that didn't the language. I don't speak Spanish, so I got a different perspective and firsthand respective of students feel like when they come here from another country, I mean I couldn't communicate with other people, and you have to learn how to do other things to communicate, you know, writing, drawing. You can say you understand if somebody comes in from another country and you can tell, have sympathy and empathy for them, but you don't understand it till you live it and living there for three weeks with the students, I learned so much, just being able to be exposed to, opened my eyes. That's probably the most beneficial part of it.

William: I think not only me but also everybody involved into this path. We've made lots of sacrifices in order to come here.

Israel: It was really hard to say goodbye to my family because I knew that it was going to be a year, and a long year and far way from home, but I know that my mom is there supporting me in everything that I do.

William: My fianc� was little bit sad in the beginning because we do everything together, she was really supportive also and she said go for it, it's just a year I'll visit you there. The mere fact that I don't have a salary for a year, it's a sacrifice. To be away from family, from people who are very close to you it's sacrifice.

Gabriela: I was concerned about their well-being. I feel very positive. I have faith in God, and I said well, I know you will be okay.

Male voice: We try to support each other. In some cases, it's easier than in other cases. All of us we have had difficult times sometimes. For one or another reason. Sometimes it's the spicy food, sometimes it�s the weather, sometimes it's the amount of homework, sometimes is the fact that you miss your family that much, a lot of factors. But we try to support each other, which is the positive thing about that.

Sue Maes: We had major blizzard hit Manhattan and consequently all the flights were cancelled for about at least 24 hours.

Effie Swanson, Go Teacher program manager, 2013-2014: The students were scheduled to leave like a Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and then the following Wednesday or Thursday was Christmas.

Sue Maes: Once we call the American Airline, person on the phone we said don't go away we've a line and we took one student, one after another to rearrange their flights.

Effie Swanson: They are supposed to be leaving Saturday and Sunday, their dining hall was, they closed on Friday, so they didn't have any food, so a local restaurant owner at Carlos O'Kelly's provided the students with free meals during that time.

Jim Wright, Manager, Carlos O'Kelly's: Sue Maes called me at home, she said Jim, we have a problem and I need your help. We were happy to do that, many of them were crying because they love their families, and we tried to celebrate the occurrence and their experience and give them confidence that it would be alright and so we brought them up actually in this very room. We navigated through it, and I think it was a connecting and warm feeling to have with them.

Effie Swanson: ATA bus, which is huge integral part of our success. Their drivers got up Christmas Day even - I got a call like at 4:30 in the morning from an ATA bus driver, who was supposed to pick up his team that had overslept, and so I was telling him her apartment number and he got out of his van and went knocked on the door and woke her up, and that's really just above and beyond what they're expected to do.

William Hedgecock, ATA bus driver: I only had certain amount of time, to get them there, or they would have had to find another way. When I got there, it worked out fine. I didn't know anybody knew about that. They're far away from home, their families are back home, they're going to be separated for a while, and I just try to show them a little respect and kindness that all we know, they are classy, have a lot of talent, we won't believe the talent that was here, people just see [unintelligible] I saw a talent. I got a present and my scarf that I can wear. I miss them, I miss Carlos, Eduardo, Edgar, Jessica, Joanne, a whole bunch of people, they're just wonderful. If I can I want to Ecuador, that'd be a nice place to retire, live out the rest of my life there.

[text on screen] La Comunidad Con Corazon - Community with Heart

Casey Gum, junior, Kansas State University: Started out as a just a requirement for my class. I ended up just emailing Israel and after a couple of weeks of meeting up every week and talking and it begun to be more natural and just like an actual friendship. One of the benefits of being able to meet up with Israel and being able to practice my Spanish has been free to ask questions and the environment that's much different in the classroom. 

Carrie Remillard, senior, Kansas State University: It's so much different than learning Spanish in the classroom and whenever you are actually speaking with native speakers you learn so much more and more phrases that are unique and to their region and just perspectives on where they come from. Essentially once you meet one Ecuadorian you kind of meet a bunch of their friends and so I actually met Israel, he was coming into my car we were going to Cat [xx] to go salsa dancing. We went to Worlds of Fun and Israel when on his first roller coaster ever, but I didn't know that until he was going up the hill and he was really nervous and it was fantastic, like I'll never forget his scream and it was priceless. It's really hard to not walk around campus and not run into one of the Ecuadorians. They really make an effort to really bring their culture to the rest of the students here and just to bridge the gap.

Casey Gum: They just have a big presence. There was an event at the union last year, I think it was a talent show, and they just have a big thing. Veronica, one of their friends, was singing a song and so they had flags and everything, and it's just like they bring a lot of excitement and enthusiasm. They have a very tight knit community.

Carrie Remillard: [speaking in Spanish]

Dr. Tom Vontz, Professor, Kansas State University: The Ecuadorian students have added a whole bunch I think to our program. I hope that they benefited from being in our classes and learning some new ideas about teaching and students and teaching methods and so forth, but they've added a whole bunch to our program. They bring a different perspective.

Dr. Vicki Sherbert, Assistant Professor, Kansas State University: There were many days when class was over and everyone left and I looked around the room and thought, I think I was the biggest learner here today. We can all learn from each other. So, I always tell them that and emphasize that and at the same time take that to heart and try to learn from my students. I think it's given people, and I'm going to say faculty as well, a different perspective. But I think they have made us look at things differently. They would talk about what education is like in Ecuador they would talk about classroom sizes and resources and different things like that one of my favorite days in class was when we were all gathered together, and we were sharing just about the things that we hoped for students that we teach, and I had lots of people just having a little side conversations about stories were saying. I thought I was the only one and it doesn't matter if you're here in the United States or if you're teaching in Ecuador, we have the same concerns, the same worries, the same celebrations for our students.

Deb Nauerth, Principal, Woodrow Wilson Elementary: My name is Deb Nauerth and I'm the principal of Woodrow Wilson Elementary. It is with great pleasure and honor that we were able to host five Ecuadorian teachers in our school. We always want our students to have a world-wide perspective and the only way they can do that is by having first-hand experiences with people of many cultures.

Lori Martin, Principal, Bergman Elementary: My name is Lori Martin, and I am the principal here Bergman. They made such a positive impact and strong impression on our teachers that now when I send out an invitation to host an Ecuadorian teacher, I always have people that I have to put on the waiting list and turn away, so it's a good, good thing.

Deb Nauerth: We did have some students that were working on a penguin project and as soon as they were talking about the Galapagos penguins they realized, oh this is right near where our teacher was, this is right by Ecuador, so it's like their world was just opened up with that geography and that knowledge and understanding.

Lori Martin: They are in our school family picture and so I don't know if you can see that, but I think there's four that are here as part of our family, we just consider them part of our team so, it wasn't anything that even had to be encouraged, they just naturally went out the door with is and the product of who we are.

Deb Nauerth: I'm so proud of them and so thankful and look forward to continuing that partnership.

Israel: My advice to Ecuadoreans is if you are coming here it would be like, first of all if you are coming in winter, I would say warm coats.

William: Get ready for a year of a different weather. And the weather that we are accustomed to experience in Ecuador. Get ready to meet people from different places with different point of views and get ready to work hard. 

Female voice: The learning they will get here is very valuable, and if they come believing in what they think will change education in Ecuador, they still kind of have a personal commitment.

Consuelo: I like to tell them that they need to be optimistic and to be brave enough to embrace because being outside you comfort zone or being outside of your family or your close friends it's very difficult.

William: Sometimes we're like, oh man. I have to do this, or I have to do that. Or this thing again and things like that. But I think at the end of the day, it's a fantastic experience.

Consuelo: This is the way you can help the country. Here you have, go and come back because the things we would see in the future, doing things like I was part of the change

Female voice: You're going to travel like you forget about complaining and be ready to learn something new every single day.

Female voice: Be open, be very, very open, and that's what I would give the advice is make sure you're ready to just go with the flow. Embrace the experience and take it all in.

Female voice: Be ready to be homesick and be ready to love it and be ready to be homesick and love it because it's a day-to-day battle. And be flexible. Flexibility is the biggest thing.

Female voice: Sometimes it's kind of difficult to get to know each other, especially in American land. We are really friendly, and if they want to get to know ourselves better, they just need to ask something of the just got the opportunity to talk with us, we can be with friends.

Israel: Every single day is like a new adventure because you don't know what to expect so somehow every day you are out of your comfort zone.

Female voice: That's what the county needs, us to come back and be part of the change that the whole country needs.

Female voice: It's like I feel more motivated now. Before I haven't felt this way. I feel good now, thinking of doing good for more people.

Male voice: It's worth it, all of the effort that you're doing here is going to be recognized later and it definitely it's worth it. 

Female voice: My professor told me that I have the opportunity to make the world awesome. I like to say thank you so much because I have learned a lot and they are not just teachers but human beings.

Male voice: We have a bunch of experiences that we have here, and the most important is to learn from every single one of them, so that's my final message.

Socorro Herrera: If I was to get in President [xx]'s brain, which I think would be too complex, but I believe that he sees in the country as having the top educational system in the world for a country of its size, because I don't think he'll stop with just English and Spanish, I think he'll move towards Mandarin and French and German, and then say let's become citizens of the world.

Melissa Holmes: And it's wonderfully fulfilling because you can see systematic change within their education system, and then you hear from random teachers that come up, Oh my gosh! she's sharing with me all these new things that she's doing with her students, that she learned at K-State or that she learned at MSU and so they share with you and they're sharing with other colleagues in their schools.

Mary Wood, Director, English Language Program, Kansas State University: If each person taught another 10 years, and each person touched 40 students, the number of lives that would be touched just by that one group was truly astounding and then you think of how many other participants we've had since then, it is society transforming. So, it's the way it should be done.

Sue Maes: I think that as an educator, I'm absolutely, impassionate that education is the key to economic development, so if you can start there, people will be empowered and language and education just go hand in hand with doing that.

Dr. Marcelo Sabates, Associate Provost for International Programs, Kansas State University: I think the Ecuadorean government is being extremely smart by investing not just in education but investing in an area of education that is needed. What they are doing is going to show in 20 years, some people are going to remember those teachers and Kansas State as a first for Latin America.

Hector Rodriguez, general manager, YACHAY EP: [speaking in Spanish] We can think about the GoTeacher program as a success story, as well as another rich story. 

Female voice: That's the goal to reach the excellence in academics to improve education, to improve the quality of education.

Mona Menking: If I would have to sum up the GoTeacher Program in three words that would be that Vale La Pena, every sacrifice we make, every battle we fight, every meal we eat, every hot chili pepper that comes on my plate, whatever it is, it's worth it. The acquired knowledge that you attain by being here, Vale La Pena, the human interaction that you have, Vale La Pena, I mean I every aspect of this program in my mind is a worthwhile investment.