Alumni Spotlight: Christian Bowe

Why did you decide to volunteer abroad with UBELONG in the Galapagos?

Christian: I was favoring UBELONG's program in Laos above a few other abroad opportunities but really decided it was best for me after I heard UBELONG's Co-Founder speak at the World Bank's Youth to Youth Conference. His genuineness, impressive background in International Development and admirable belief in what UBELONG stands for and aims to accomplish made me finalize my decision.

Describe your day to day activities as a volunteer.

Christian: Teaching kids during summer was great. The morning would typically start out with a phenomenal breakfast then we'd have a meeting to go over what we planned to get done for that specific day and that specific week. We would also go over deadlines for larger projects. I specifically worked on adding what the students we're interested in and what was relevant to their every-day lives into the lesson plan, monitoring academic development, and engaging with local officials to make sure that educating youth is a top priority in the area. At night time, I would teach two different age groups about useful information that they were curious about since the school year was over and it was summer term.

UBELONG volunteer Christian with his host family in Laos

How has this experience helped you grow personally and professionally?

Christian: Personally, this experience created many remarkable friendships. I found out what I can accomplish when I step out of my comfort zone and I've further discovered how little you need to be happy. Professionally, this experience definitely helped me land an internship. It made me see the bigger picture and really helped me discover what subjects I wanted to further study in college and narrow down my potential future career paths.