Worth It!

The word that comes to mind when I think of the bonus week is WOW. There are so many aspects to the bonus week that I would not have been able to experience had it not been for loop. The in-country director we had was amazing (shout out Tasch), the group I was lucky enough to be with for the week could not have been better if I had chosen them myself, and the experiences I made during the week is something I still talk about and will for a long time. This was my first time out of the country and to have both my experience at FeraCare and Cape Town as my inaugural 'first out of country trip' I could not have been more lucky. Visiting Cape Town is its own adventure but doing it with the same group I was with for the two previous weeks made it very special. It is sort of difficult to put into words a 'review' for the bonus week, it is just something to which I have to say 'see for yourself'. And for that reason I encourage it so heavily. If your'e on the fence about deciding whether to take the week, this is your confirmation to do it if you have the means. If it weren't for the Gilman Scholarship the bonus week would not have been possible for me and I feel extremely grateful I had the opportunity and privilege to attend the bonus week. It seems difficult to grasp that a single week could be so fun, educational, life changing, exciting, etc. but it was and those types of experiences are rare (for me at least). Visiting South Africa sparked two things for me; my respect for the wildlife field and the need to travel, I hope it does the same for you.