One Heck of An Experience!

I spent four months living and volunteering in the beautiful Bolivian city of Cochabamba. This was my first time traveling abroad solo and I was looking for an experience that would complement my degree in biology while allowing me time to pursue language courses. This program was all of that and much more! I was able to find a volunteer placement that fit my needs (and boy were there many to choose from) and take all of the spanish classes that I could handle. I quickly found myself becoming more and more immersed in the culture as I developed wonderful relationships with the people I met along the way.
I definitely felt like I was helping to achieve a greater goal day to day at my volunteer placement, which was working to conserve endangered Bolivian amphibian species. I will note, however, that I had to be motivated and often push my ideas with constant reminders and meetings with my superiors in order to get things done. Other volunteers seemingly had similar experiences with their respective placements as well. This is not necessarily a 'bad thing' it just means that in order to feel like you are achieving your goals within the organization you may have to be ready to put some extra work in.
Overall I would highly recommend this program. I came for the language and volunteer experience and left with so much more!