Name

Alese Colehour

Major
Biology

Minor(s)
Environmental Studies, Geography

 

Program and Location
SIT Comparative Conservation and Ecology, Ecuador

Academic focus while abroad?
Humans, Ecology, Ethnobotany.

What did you accomplish academically?
I experienced, first hand, the impact of our day-to-day decisions on people we will likely never meet: I saw 40 yr. "drought" bringing hardship to subsistence agricultural communities. I saw transnational corporations dumping oil into the rich várzea waters of the Amazon river system. I saw globalization in a way no "institute" could ever show me. I am empowered by this experience to take advantage of the opportunity I have as a US citizen and change our global relations while seeking to live ecologically.

What were the strongest aspects of your program?

Experiential, flexible learning. There is no better way to learn insect identification or bird calls than to be in the field getting your hands dirty and your feet wet. The daily lectures that weren't in the field came from a different person everyday which provided lots of good discussion on different perspectives and added variety to the classes you don't usually get in a traditional class. Having Ecuadorian activists, corporate executives, bird nerds and ex-patriots lecture on a variety of current issues in ecology and conservation gives a broad amount of information students are responsible for filtering and forming their own opinions.

What were the most challenging aspects of your program?
Packing sheets, emergency food supply and iodine tablets in rice sacks thrown over a horse's back and setting out (on top of a language barrier) into a very rural, very impoverished area of the tropical dry forest in coastal Ecuador is not something easy for anybody. I found that exposing myself to vulnerability forced me to trust the generosity and kindness of people I meet along the way, revealing to me a lot more about humanity and about myself than I've ever known. Everything usually works out to be an incredible experience if you're willing to push the limits of your comfort zone.

What was your living situation like?
I spent the majority of the program with a middle-class family living in Quito. Busing anywhere in the city was fairly easy (watch out for pickpockets!). We also stayed with a rural home-stay during our week-long trip to the Cloud forest, on a boat during the Galapagos excursion, and at a field station in the Amazon. During my independent research project I stayed in rural home-stays and hostels. Bathrooms ranged from traditional flush toilets, to composting toilets, to shrubbery. Showers were sometimes hot but usually in more rural areas I just jumped in a river. Recommendations: do not drink the tap water in any part of the country (though you will likely get sick anyways) and get used to eating a lot of white rice.

Suggestions for future participants?
Everyone who is able, should experience living abroad in a place where you will be challenged academically, emotionally, physically and ethically. It is not about location but about seizing every opportunity to learn that comes your way. Do it. You won't regret it.

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