Explore the Galapagos Islands: Students earn credit in exotic land
by Roxanna Latifi, NW News Editor

   Students who have wanted to study abroad but shied away from the high cost may want to investigate the NW Campus Ecuador and Galapagos Islands program.

   For the past six years, Jan Mercer, professor emeritus, and Paul Sexton, associate professor of Spanish, have been taking TCC students to study what most students will never see past the Discovery channel.

   "We have a wonderful itinerary. Our students get to learn in rare environments and see animals that are particularly unique to the islands. You can't see these animals anywhere else in the world," Mercer said.

    The course will meet four to six weeks before traveling to Ecuador. Students can earn up to six hours college credit. Three one-hour courses in Spanish are offered: SPAN 1110 Oral Expression, SPAN 1110 Listening Comprehension, SPAN 1110 Vocabulary Building I. Students can also earn three hours credit in BIOL 2306 Environmen-tal Biology.

   Students earn Spanish credit by practicing speech and verbal skills with the bilingual tour guides, communicating with the native people of the islands and taking lessons with Sexton.

   Students attain knowledge within the biological perspective by studying the exotic plants and animals native to the islands. The islands are virtually uninhabited, with little commercial influence.

   Mercer said students would interact with the creatures of the island up close and personal, something no one can get in the classroom.

   "The birds will actually interact with the students, landing on their shoulders. This leaning environment can't be replicated in the classroom, and it's not a zoo," she said.

   One of the advantages to studying abroad with TCC is the price. The total cost, which may be made in installments, is $3,079.00. The price includes TCC tuition, roundtrip airfare, hotel, general island fees and activities and the majority of meals.

   Mercer said the total amount of fees is what a student would most likely pay at a university without the luxury of studying abroad while earning a total of six hours.

    Students will arrive in Quito, Ecuador, May 30. Then students will travel to the Galapagos Islands June 1 beginning with the Isla Bartolome.  

  For more information, students can contact Sexton at 817-515-7210 or Mercer at 817-515-7730 or 817-284-1818.