My name is Aaliyah Cabiles and I am currently a junior, heading to Grade 12 next year! Firstly, I would like to extend my gratitude to the many donors (whether it be inside or outside of the Corpus Christi community) who made it financially possible for me to attend World Youth Day, as well as those who spent their time praying for us to have a safe and fruitful trip. It was truly a profound, enlightening spiritual experience that I cannot express in words. When I first decided to attend World Youth Day, I was filled with stories of amazing experiences that my friends and family had in previous World Youth Days. Hence, I had high expectations for the event, and Portugal did not disappoint. Just after a few days in Tavira as part of Days in the Diocese, I was immediately able to recognize the significance of World Youth Day in building the foundation of my faith. By having both enlightening and humorous conversations with my fellow pilgrims or spending time with them through cleaning up a local park, hearing about their love for their own faith inspired me to build a stronger relationship with God. Hence, not only was I able to build long-lasting connections with the like-minded youth I met, their own strong faith influenced me to include God in every part of my life, through the happy moments and through the obstacles, simultaneously strengthening my own faith. Moreover, although the beautiful architecture of the many churches in Portugal led me to admire the talent of 18th to 19th century artists, the many Holy Hours we spent in them also led me to understand the importance of including God in every single part of my life. Before Portugal, I struggled to have frequent conversations with God, as I had the initial expectation that I needed to have something significant to talk to Him about. However, after experiencing those Holy Hours in Portugal, I realized that I could approach prayer in terms of just having a regular conversation, whether it be treating a conversation with God like I would with a friend, ranting to him about events that may have made me experience negative emotions and asking for guidance, or telling God about my day, including both the highs and lows. This has made it easier for me to engage in daily prayer, as I realized that I can genuinely talk to God about everything. Once again, thank you to everyone who supported our trip; I am so happy to have engaged in such a unique and spiritually fulfilling experience, and I hope that every single youth will be able to participate in at least one World Youth Day. To my fellow pilgrims, see you in Seoul in 2027! :)