Committed to pursuing a career in public health, Jan moved to Guatemala to work as a community organizer for a health program so she could better understand the poverty and inequity for so many living in Central America. Upon her return to the US, she met a man that she thought shared her vision and commitment, with whom she had a child and married.  After a decade of planning with her husband to realize what she thought was a joint dream — to embark on a great adventure to move to Latin America with their daughter — and just three months before they were set to leave, her husband backed out of the trip. Within weeks he backed out of the marriage.

Jan eventually decided to continue the journey without him and took a position as a clinic administrator for a small non-project organization in rural Guatemala and moved with her daughter to a Maya village for a year. As a single mother, working full time as an immigrant in a poor country, she was faced with the consequences of her commitment, the paradox of privilege when trying to blend in, and what it means to have dreams change.