Leslie's Study Abroad Trip to Chiapas!
Hi everyone! I'm using this website to help me fundraise for my study abroad field trip to Chiapas, Mexico! I will be going on a 14-day trip to go study Mesoamerican ethnoecology, or put more simply, I'll be studying with families in rural Chiapas, and how they use plants in their environment for food, medicine and ritual culture. I will also be visiting local museums and archaeological sites in the area, and becoming familiar with a culture not my own!
I'm studying cultural anthropology at Cal State University Dominguez Hills, and this is my very first study abroad trip, and I'm very excited for this opportunity. But I need your help!
I've always been active in my school community. I used to be involved as a Crew Leader with sustainable student greening workshops, and I've served as the Director of Activites in Associated Students at Santa Monica College. At CSU Dominguez Hills, I'm involved with the anthropology club, recently volunteered with the CSUDH 4th annual Pow Wow, and currently have a GPA of 3.825, and trying to keep that up. I'm currently working at the Natural History Museum, and saving up as much as I can with my paychecks (but with a minumum wage job it's tough, with bills and all) and with the money I'm fundraising for, I'll be using for lodging and transportation, food, etc. I'll be in Chiapas from mid May to early June.
It would mean to WORLD to me if people can find it in their hearts to help me with this trip. I'm planning on having this trip make me become more "internationally experienced", and to help me with my graduate school applications for international affairs! It's a great opportunity for me, to become a more worldly and cultured individual, to help out people and learn now and give back what I can in return through my education in the future.
Every donation, no matter how small, is greatly appreciated, and I love you all!
"Not all those who wander are lost" -J.R.R Tolkien
Thank you very much,
Leslie Estrada
(that's me studying petroglyphs in Wind Wolves Preserve earlier this year!)
