Geology Volunteering in Multiple Countries

My time spent with Carpe Diem Education was one of the most impactful periods of my life. My group semester was spent in East Africa, exploring Tanzania, Rwanda, and Uganda. We learned about vast amounts of history and culture, spent time working with multiple orphanages and schools, learned to scuba dive, dug deep on self-reflection, went on a safari, completed a yoga and meditation retreat, stayed with incredible homestays and built relationships that have lasted the five years since the end of our semester. The relationships I built during Carpe Diem are some of my most treasured. My latitudes semester was spent at a school for children with special needs in rural Uganda, and it was empowering and impactful in ways that I continue to learn about and realize today. I finished my attitudes semester in the spring of 2018 after spending 3 months working every day with the most incredible group of students. In January 2022, I started a Master's Degree in Special Education. My time with Carpe shaped who I am in a dramatic way, and I can't give enough thanks to the incredibly purposeful design of my program. My group semester gave me the confidence and traveling know-how to travel to Egypt solo after my latitudes semester. In May of 2023, I am going to the wedding of a friend I met on group semester. If you are thinking about a gap year program, Carpe Diem Education will help you learn more about yourself and the world around you than you could in any other setting. Anytime I have the opportunity to tell people about Carpe is a privilege. Their programs are designed to push you to learn, grow and step out of your comfort zone.

My most memorable experience from the Diverse Jungle Animal Experience program in Costa Rica was the multiple diverse animal surveys and being able to see animals such as Tapirs on one of the trails.