I was very hesitant about leaving my college and missing out on a semester, but I'm so glad I made this choice! This program is an amazing combination of hands-on environmental science and ecology fieldwork, program-organized travel to all major ecoregions (that wouldn't be accessible to typical tourists), exposure to very different styles of life and groups of people, and experiencing Ecuador through living with host families and exploration with other students in the program.
The excursions were the highlight of this program- it was such a refreshing change of pace to have days filled with setting up mist nets for birds in the morning, learning about macroinvertebrates and sampling in the afternoon, and looking for monkeys or using moth light traps in the evenings. They were exhausting, with long days of hiking, collecting data, and listening to guest lectures about topics related to that region, but so incredible and never felt like "work" in a burdensome way. Snorkeling in the Galápagos is certainly not a normal type of schoolwork. Less mentioned in program material is how easy it is to travel and explore independently, too. Almost every weekend, members of our group took buses to different parts of the country and got to see awesome volcanos, visit indigenous markets, ride bikes down waterfall routes, climb mountains, and explore the awesome food, museums, and neighborhoods of Quito, all for very cheap.
For me, the independent research project was the most rewarding and challenging experience. I had a wonderful month spent living with a rural community and 2 other SIT students and designing and carrying out a project that was very relevant to my community's needs. I am a much more confident researcher now, have great professional contacts who served as my advisors, and feel more qualified for a variety of field research positions and academic work in Spanish in the future.
This program is not based around a university, which meant an adjustment to a very different academic structure, but people are drawn to this program for its uniqueness and we became a very close-knit group. In addition, I felt very connected to my host family, my host community from the research month, and others who I met throughout my time in Ecuador and can't wait to visit some of them again. Ecuador is a very friendly country and I absolutely loved getting to talk to people in academic and social settings and learn about their lives. I would do this program again in a heartbeat.
