I want to tell you a little bit about my organization, since its is quite a unique way to do study abroad. I'll try and keep my opinion out of this post as much as is possible for me, and then later I will talk about why these aspects are so important to me.
Carpe Diem Education, or "Seize" as my dad like to call it, is a study abroad organization offering college credit through Portland State University that leads traveling, group oriented, 3 month long, service based trips throughout the world. So to break that down...
Carpe Diem- is a Latin phrase that means "Seize the Day." It is also the motto of my beloved TOMS! I frequently shorten this Carpe, or occasionally CD.
Portland State University- Carpe is not a Portland State run program, but there is the option of receiving college credit through PSU. Upon completion of the courses, one can receive a transcript from PSU. These credits are actually optional, because we are not taking classes. To receive credit for the learning experiences, there are papers to write upon returning to the states. This way, instead of sitting inside writing a paper and looking out a window at a beautiful new country, the student can live the new culture to the fullest and the spend the boring time back in their home country.
Traveling-This organization is so unique because students get to travel throughout multiple countries instead of sitting in one foreign university for the majority of the time. For my particular program, we will start in Quito, Ecuador. We will travel to different places in Ecuador and staying in different locations, and then head to the neighboring country of Peru. Here we will also be traveling, and ending at Machu Picchu!
Group Oriented- All of these exciting endeavors are done as a group with a maximum of 12 students. The South America semester is quite popular, and so I anticipate 12 to be an accurate number. Each group has two leaders fluent in the native language and experts on travel. This way of organizing a study abroad trip makes it less of a complete cultural immersion, because you are not tossed in alone with the locals. On the other hand though, it makes it so you have a great opportunity to build relationships and be apart of a community.
Service Based- This seems to be the core of everything that Carpe stands for. I wish I could describe for you in great detail what types of service the South America semester holds, but that is something you will have to look out for in my blog!
Read more about my program on Carpe Diem's website
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