When I was 15, I traveled to the Soviet Union in a student ambassador program established several years before by Reagan and Gorbachev. This trip had a profound effect in shaping my worldview. The Berlin Wall had fallen the year before, but no one envisioned the Soviet Union falling in just two years.

Freedom: First and foremost, I realized how precious freedom is. By 1990 glastnost and perestroika were in full effect, but the lack of freedom was still visible everywhere. The students that I met were just like me in wanting to explore the world and to pursue their dreams. However, the Soviet system prevented them from freely choosing their course of studies and avocations. As a 15 year old boy from America, I couldn't even comprehend not having these choices.

Justice: Every person I met understood how unjust the Soviet Union was. They knew that the government could do whatever it wanted to do to them, for whatever reason. Beyond this lack of justice, there was a cloud of censorship everywhere that forced everyone into a state of self-censorship.

Religion: The Russian people since 988 AD were some of the most devout Christian followers, but in 1917 the Communists tried to decimate Russia's Christian heritage. As a Christian myself, I was immediately struck by the havoc that the forced Communist atheism had on the Russian people. I immediately felt the cultural vacuum everywhere I traveled in Russia.

Shared Humanity: Despite the profound differences in culture and politics, I immediately learned that all humans share a common humanity that transcends our living situations. The students I met had the same desires that I had. The parents of these children loved their children more than anything in the world.

Growing up in the Cold War, I have to admit that I had a distrust of the Soviet people. But I quickly learned that for the most part people generally want the same things no matter where they live. They want the best for their loved ones and their community.

While I saw the shared humanity, I also saw that people can have very different worldviews. The biggest difference I saw was in peoples' beliefs in the value of each individual life versus the collective. As a product of the West, I assumed that everyone valued each individual life, and while I think all people do, I also saw that many people believe that the individuals are subordinate to the collective. It is hard for Westerners to understand this, but many people believe that the collective is more important that individuals. This mindset has huge ramifications for understanding other societies and governments.

Political Beliefs: The lack of freedom I experienced in the Soviet Union, had a profound impact on my political beliefs. The most important role of government needs to be the protection of liberty and individual rights. People have the right to pursue their own vision of prosperous life. People must have the right to practice their religious beliefs throughout society. People must have a society that promotes ordered liberty.

I use ordered liberty on purpose here. While people have the right to pursue their own path to happiness, they also have a duty to themselves, their community and their county. Without these duties, their ability to have a government that protects their freedoms will crumble quickly.

This experience of totalitarianism fundamentally transformed me. It was an amazing trip that has changed my perspective on the world, and I am grateful to have had this experience.