Student Spotlight

COURTESY PHOTO / KATRINA MYERS

Australia. New Zealand. Hawaii. Katrina Myers, a senior political science major, trained to become a registered yoga teacher (RYT) in each of these countries this summer before visiting Ecuador. She started her journey on May 20 and continued throughout the summer with a four-week break during which Myers taught yoga in Massachusetts. Inspiration for traveling abroad came from her search for a place to relocate after graduation. 

The tour of New Zealand and Australia was through EF College Break. Around twenty other people went on the trip. Of those, Myers became close to several of them and still keeps in touch with friends she met abroad. After landing in Sydney, the group made their way along the east coast stopping in various locations to explore. Myers went on many jungle walks and was able to see a lot of amazing animals. One of which included the one of the most deadly spiders in the world, the Sydney funnel web spider. A bite from one of these spiders would kill someone within 20 minutes if not treated. Myers also snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef and was able to see many exotic fish. When in New Zealand, she explored Auckland, Hobbiton, Maori villages, and the volcanic wonders of Rotorua. 

Ecuador proved to be Myers’ favorite part of her excursions. She ventured there to volunteer at an animal rescue center, Yana Cocha in Puyo. Going into the trip, she knew no one and was grateful that there were others who, like her, were not fluent in Spanish. This particular rescue center receives abused animals, or ones that have been kept illegally or in bad condition throughout Ecuador and the Amazon. Myers did volunteer work, which included feeding the animals, repairing broken equipment, and making sure the day-to-day operations involving the animals went smoothly. Their hope is to rehabilitate the animals and one day release them back into their habitat. It was eye opening for her to see the way other parts of the world live. “We are so lucky in this country and have so much that people can’t even imagine,” said Myers. 

One instance that was a bit of a shock for Myers was a few days without water in Ecuador. No running water, no flushing toilets, and no drinking water. In order to clean the animals, they had to fetch buckets of water from a river. Ecuador contrasted the US the most in her travels. The experience changed her outlook on vacations as well. She enjoyed how rewarding the volunteer trip was and would want to do more of that type of excursion. Myers feels as though “[diving] deeper into other countries, such as countries in Africa or Southeast Asia, you would be even more awakened to the world.”