Ecuador: Natalie Diller
Program: Ceiba Tropical Conservation Semester: Galapagos, Andes and Amazon, Spring
Natalie’s Major: Conservation Biology
How will your experience benefit you in the future? How might it affect your future career or studies?
I have gained so many more connections to people, learned new field skills, and gained such a valuable appreciation for different people and cultures. Everything I learned and experienced will help inform the choices I make going forward, and can only benefit my future studies.
What is your most memorable experience from your program?
My internship! We each completed a month long conservation internship at the end of our program, and I worked with Sumak Allpa. They are a semi-wild monkey rehabilitation center and I conducted the pre-release behavioral assessment of the Woolly troop.
Through my work with Sumak Allpa, I was able to get hands-on experience with an active and effective conservation project. It was incredibly rewarding and helped open my eyes to different conservation projects throughout the world.
What is the moment you are most proud of?
I am most proud of how much my Spanish improved while living there. I stayed with a host family and I really got to work and practice my language skills daily.
How did your identities impact your experience? What advice would you give to students with similar identities who are considering a similar experience?
Ecuador is a very catholic country, but I would say that it was not as conservative as I anticipated. Within the city of Quito there is a large queer community just waiting to be found.
What challenges or barriers did you face as you prepared to go abroad and/or during your time abroad? How did you work through them?
Mostly the workload. Between speaking a different language all the time, constant travel, and all of the homework assignments it was difficult to get everything done on time, but you just had to work through it.
What is your advice for someone considering your program?
I highly recommend this program. My only advice is to spend as much time with your host family as you can. They will be your family while you are abroad, don’t hide away in your room!