Costa Rica- Cassandra Pereira- Class '13

This past summer I spent two months in the picturesque country of Costa Rica. I traveled down to Costa Rica to volunteer with a turtle conservation program for a month. We first arrived in the capital city of San Jose and spent a few days in the city. I went to many museums, historical sites and traveled up to the Poas Volcano. The city was very interesting and full of many things to do but I was excited to get out and see more of the breathtaking country. 

I headed over to Quepos, which is situated on the pacific coast.The first part of my program was to become certified to teach English as a foreign language. I was there for two weeks. The first week,I did a lot of fun activities like zip lining, white water rafting and hiking. I also did a lot of exploring at the Manual Antonio National Park, a beautiful reserve close to Quepos. The second week was mostly concentrated on getting certified in teaching English as a foreign language (TFLE). I learned a lot through this highly intense week of teaching. After completing the program, I headed out to the second part of my program, working with turtles. I took the bus up to the Nicoya Peninsula to our site called Cameronal Refugio. This was on the pacific coast close to a town called Samara. My daily schedule at the site was morning chores after breakfast, free time, lunch break, more free time and then afternoon work. After we were done our daily work, we would eat dinner and then everyone was signed up to work a four hour shift during night patrol. I was able to see many turtles during the night shifts! It was very surreal to be so close to the turtles during an exciting time while they laid their eggs. After my month of volunteering at Cameronal, I did some more travelling. I was able to stop in la Fourtuna and Monteverde, and then travel to the Caribbean coast. This summer experience was an incredible opportunity where I learned about the culture and met many different people from around the world. I will remember my experience for the rest of my life and cherish all the memories.

Hawaii- Adam Morrow- Class '13

For my co-op this past summer, I chose Hawaii as my destination for placement. I worked as a housekeeper and reception staff at a hostel in central Maui called Banana Bungalow.

The manager Laina was super friendly and helpful and my co-workers were from all over the world and also awesome to work with. My duties involved checking-in guests, cleaning, maintenance and reservations. My girlfriend tagged along for the trip and we had an amazing time. I usually worked mornings, so in my free time we would explore the island. 

Scuba diving quickly became my passion while on Maui, so I ended up diving a lot and snorkelling with green sea turtles, white tip reef sharks and colourful parrot fish. Stand up paddle boarding, cliff jumping, hiking a volcanic crater, and kayaking are just some of the other fun things we did. The island has a very mellow vibe, and locals are friendly and treat visitors with ‘aloha’.

My co-op experience has inspired me to pursue scuba diving as a career, as I am flying to Utila, Honduras next May to obtain my Dive-Master certification. From there, the possibilities are endless, and I think if it wasn’t for that experience I wouldn’t have such direction and clarity of what I want to achieve. 
                                     Aloha!