Spending a week on a cruise ship touring the Galapagos Islands was just one of the amazing things junior Erin Brooks experienced on her trip to Ecuador.
“In Galapagos we learned so much about the wildlife and Darwin’s theories,” she says.
The chemistry major spent a total of four weeks in Ecuador for a spring term class in May 2007. The first week was spent at the Academia Latinoamericana, living with a host family and taking intensive Spanish language lessons.
“My host mom helped make the experience that much better,” she says. “I knew a lot of Spanish already, and I still learned a lot at the Academy. The classes were a good mix of lecture, class work, fun games and group work.”
Erin Brooks and Patia at "the project." It's a place for kids to go to stay out of the streets.
For the next two weeks, students split into groups — continuing Spanish lessons, studying cloud forest ecology, teaching and observing at a local hospital.
Brooks researched differences between health care in Ecuador and the United Sates, specifically comparing hospitals.
“I love traveling and experiencing new things,” she says. “I thought that going to Ecuador would be a great opportunity to do both of those while getting some credits. The biggest lesson for me was to be open to new experiences, places and people.”
