MAXIMO NIVEL

I'd previously volunteered in Cambodia teaching English, and I was keen to head somewhere else and help out. I had previously quit university and was tired of working two jobs...so I booked a ticket to South America.

I want to go to graduate school to pursue a PhD in Romance Languages. I have a degree in Spanish, but I knew I wanted to live abroad, immersed in the language and culture, and really perfect my Spanish skills before beginning such a high-caliber program. Having a degree in teaching ESL already, I knew I could get a job teaching English abroad without going through a TEFL/TESOL Certification program, but I wanted to go through an organization so that I would have a support system in my new home and could ease into life abroad with a group of peers who were doing the same type of thing as I was.

I traveled to many places, but as tourist only. I think I was just ready to take my experiences to a new level, really get to know the country as if I lived there. I traveled to India and China in the past, saw all the touristy places but didn't experience as much of their culture as I would like to. Volunteering in Guatemala was exactly what I was looking for: interaction with locals and living just like one of them.