Good Experience, but not with out its challenges

Working with Volunquest was a very rewarding experience. I highly enjoyed being with the kids on the fine island of Isla Mujeres. I loved the culture and the people there and I think part of me will always belong to the island. As far as the program goes, things had a rough start. The supervisors Heather, and Rania, were very helpful and supportive and went out of their way to make our time in the schools successful. Unfortunately, the first several days of our experience were confused and challenging because the expectations were not clearly given by management. It was frustrating to be working so hard for the kids on the island and not to know entirely what was expected of us. It seemed, at least at the beginning, that the manager did not have time to be truly present and to give us the information we needed to be successful. The supervisors were not given the correct information either. After perhaps 3 days of floundering and not knowing entirely what we should have been doing, we were provided with the curriculum and the precise expectations that Volunquest had of its teachers. From there things became exponentially better and far more rewarding. It was much easier to teach in the schools when we had a standardized plan to do so. Heather and Rania made this experience successful for me. I think I have said more than once to my classmates on this trip that "Heather is a saint." She was very patient with all of my questions and concerns and helped me to reach my full teaching potential. Although Kristen is a very intelligent and driven woman and her work on the island is invaluable, she was intimidating and demanding at first. I think this was as much a learning experience for her as it was for us. I hope she too learned how to teach others and that this experience will cause other people's experiences to be more fruitful.