Student Blog

By Kathleen Megan Harfman, College of New Caledonia, winner of the 2017 Stories from Abroad Scholarship.

I have officially returned from Ecuador. Wow, what an experience! I learned a lot and saw so much. My favorite part of the entire Study Abroad adventure was staying at Sani Lodge in the Amazonian jungle. This place is a community run ecotourism lodge. To get there we flew into a city called Coca, then travelled by boat for almost three hours down the Napo River. After docking, we hiked a short trail to a canoe, where we paddled across a lagoon to the lodge. Every day we went hiking and paddling with a local guide to observe and learn about native flora and fauna, their interaction with one another, native uses, and importance. We saw various species of monkeys, as well...

By Kathleen Megan Harfman, College of New Caledonia, winner of the 2017 Stories from Abroad Scholarship.

I have arrived in Ecuador despite a bit of a marathon getting here! We got delayed on one of the flights and missed a connector as a result, so we were stranded in the New York airport for 24hrs. That was a bit of an adventure, but we eventually made it! Our first big excursion in Ecuador was to visit an organic shrimp farm. The CEO of the company toured us around and showed us how shrimp are raised, harvested, and how the farm is operated. It was an excellent learning experience and afterward they fed us a 4-course feast of fresh shrimp! It was delicious!

Later on, we visited a mangrove ecosystem. Mangrove trees grow along riversides in the brackish waters of ri...

By Peter Mate, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Vancouver Campus, winner of the 2017 Stories from Abroad Scholarship.

I’m nervous – my hands tremble. I fly home bearing more questions than I can answer. 

My semester, academically, is a success – I have a basic grasp of refugee law and contemporary citizenship; I’ve walked along the Danube, Siene and Thames; I’ve marched to Hungary’s parliament and climbed the Buda Hills; I’ve sat in wonderment at the Big Ben and the Eiffel tower. Yet, I’m restless. 

I’m restless because of the world I leave behind. In a Hungarian refugee reception center, I saw people living in shipping containers. Surrounded by razor wire and isolated, many were idle, hoping to be granted Asylum. In mass demonstrations in Budapest, threats ag...

By Kathleen Megan Harfman, College of New Caledonia, winner of the 2017 Stories from Abroad Scholarship.

Well, the bags are packed and ready to go. In less than 24 hours we will be off to South America! Eight of us from the College of New Caledonia will be flying out tomorrow morning; destination: Ecuador. We will arrive in Guayaquil and from there will meet Claudia, who, for the next three weeks, will be guiding us around the country as we explore the unique ecosystems, environments, and resource management issues of the area, as well as experiencing the culture.

Our adventure will begin at the Ecotec University in Guayaquil where we will attend a couple days of lectures. After finishing at the university, we will tour an organic shrimp farm. Shrimp production is a...