“There is no reality except in action.” – Jean-Paul Sartre

One of the most important attributes in my decision-making, and one of the reasons I was able to study abroad in the beautiful city of Cuenca, Ecuador, is pretty simple. I am adamant about taking advantage of every opportunity that I can. From tasting the odd, Cuencan specialty of Cuy (Guinea Pig, which is delicious), to studying abroad in the heart of Latin America, I have rarely let opportunities pass me up. I apply for any programs, clubs or honors that pique my interest, and I am constantly on the search to improve my perspective and cultural experiences. Whether or not I receive everything that I apply for, it’s the effort that counts. You can’t accomplish something that you don’t put any effort towards, and you won’t regret putting a little extra effort into some project or application. Personally, I think if you constantly are searching for ways to better yourself, some pretty incredible pathways will eventually open up.

The quote highlighted at the top of the article by Sartre holds a special place in my heart. Yeah, Sartre had some PRETTY depressing philosophies, but glimpses at his optimism were brilliant. And simple as well. To put it bluntly, your thoughts, opinions and plans don’t really matter. Your actions are what counts. Sure, you can hope and plan to be an incredible force of benevolence in the world, but if all you is talk and dream about it, what will it ever amount to? You have to act on your hopes and dreams, otherwise they’re just hopes and dreams. We should all want ACCOMPLISHMENTS.

So, whatever you want to do on this earth, act on it. I didn’t get to study abroad without a healthy amount of effort towards achieving this goal, from keeping up with my studies to filling out a ton of paperwork and working long hours in order to pay for it all. But now, I want to brag about getting to visit the Galápagos as a part of my university experience this semester!

Okay, I lied. I’ll start with Cajas National Park, because even though it was FREEZING COLD when we camped overnight, it was an absolutely gorgeous place with flora and fauna unlike anything I’ve ever seen. At some point in your life, you have to visit it for at least a day to see much of what it has to offer.

Galapagos time. First off, those tortoises were super interesting. They can go for over a year (?!?!) without water and move about as fast as you’d expect them to. We got to witness some…unique…tortoise interactions, as well, which is a memory I won’t soon forget.

The water was gorgeous, and there were some spectacular sunsets. I’m used to a lot of murky water with strong waves on the East Coast, so it was a nice respite to see my toes four feet under the crystal clear water and not be tackled by each passing wave.

Lastly, we have the massive Sierra Negra volcano caldera. I don’t know about y’all, but I always imagined volcanoes as being mountains with maybe 50 meter by 50 meter openings at the top where the lava spouts out. Naturally, it turns out that a lot of volcanoes have humongous openings for all of the earth’s core to just bust out (this one was about 7 kilometers by 11 kilometers…I couldn’t fit it all in one picture). We had an interesting, naturalist talk from our guide at this volcano; just another interesting facet of this unforgettable trip. The featured image has a bunch of boobies that weren’t too bright, but they did enjoy posing for us camera-people.

Thank you for reading and stay tuned!