{"id":15278,"date":"2017-05-11T14:35:16","date_gmt":"2017-05-11T14:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/?p=15278"},"modified":"2024-01-30T11:59:05","modified_gmt":"2024-01-30T16:59:05","slug":"bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\/","title":{"rendered":"Bonaire Study Abroad Adventures continue… Best Birthday Ever!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Getting the opportunity to participate on the Bonaire Study Abroad program is such a blessing, but waking up in Bonaire on your twenty first birthday is the best it gets! I woke up this morning and enjoyed breakfast on the water with some of the best friends I’ve made. As the past few days have been action packed and so amazing, I knew we had to be in for a treat today. We left the resort a bit early to\u00a0 <\/span>head out for our morning dives and all I felt was the rush of happiness and bliss fall over me endlessly.<\/span><\/p>\n

I knew the Lord was with me starting the first dive when we spotted a LARGE mature male loggerhead passing in front of the group, as sea turtles are my favorite, and I have been dying to see one during the trip. Later we saw a green sea turtle as well, and finished our second dive by following a spotted eagle ray on our way back up the reef. Absolutely amazing!<\/span><\/p>\n

After diving we went back to the resort to freshen up and get some lunch before our next adventure. I was walking out to the beach where the group was sitting to join for lunch, when all of the sudden everyone starts to sing happy birthday to me. I notice what’s going on and I am just filled with joy. As the song comes to a sweet end, Professor Fernandes whips out a beautiful classic Dutch cake to treat me with, and Dr Miller explains that everyone wanted to make my 21st birthday special, as it is a big day and this is my first trip out of the country. He presented me with the most perfect gift picked out by all my friends! They got me a hand painted plank designed by an artist who stays at or near Buddy’s. It featured the line “No Hurry, No Worry – Bonaire” accompanied by two beautifully painted sea turtles. It was hard not to bring out the waterworks, as I was just astonished at the love these people have showed me today to make sure my day is special.<\/span><\/p>\n

For our next adventure of the day on our Bonaire Study Abroad program, the crew traveled to the south eastern side of the island to do a trash clean up. Some people may have thought this would be the last way I want to spend my birthday, but to be blessed the way I have been by coming here and having loving friends… it’s the least I can do to give back for what Bonaire has already given me in four days<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our group collected 15 duffel bags full of plastic off the coral rubble wash-up of the SE beach. So much collected, and yet so much left to collect after filling our trucks, felt bitter sweet. We were doing a nice thing but I still felt a little defeated at this moment by the human footprint. But then I felt a peace come over me as I realize it is this small change that influences more small change, and more compassion and care for the environment. We dropped the trash of at a local plastic management site that we were working with and were on our way. I think I can speak for all of us when I say that it feels better knowing that the beaches are 15 bags less of trash.<\/span><\/p>\n

Coming to the end of the day, I feel truly blessed to be able to experience this Bonaire Study Abroad program and all the amazing things we are doing here. I can’t wait to bring all my information learned home and share with my friends and family. And hopefully one day, I can use it to put me where I want to be in my career to make an even bigger change on the environment and society.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now to get ready for my first night dive ever!! This birthday can never be topped!<\/span><\/p>\n

To learn how to participate in an experience like the Bonaire Study Abroad program at SPC, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Getting the opportunity to participate on the Bonaire Study Abroad program is such a blessing, but waking up in Bonaire on your twenty first birthday is the best it gets! I woke up this morning and enjoyed breakfast on the water with some of the best friends I’ve made. As the past few days have … Continue reading Bonaire Study Abroad Adventures continue… Best Birthday Ever!<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1024,"featured_media":15286,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7],"tags":[],"coauthors":[805],"class_list":["post-15278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bonaire","category-study-abroad"],"yoast_head":"\r\nBonaire Study Abroad Adventures continue... Best Birthday Ever<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Participating in the Bonaire Study Abroad program is such a blessing, but waking up in Bonaire on your twenty first birthday is the best it gets!\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bonaire Study Abroad Adventures continue... Best Birthday Ever\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Participating in the Bonaire Study Abroad program is such a blessing, but waking up in Bonaire on your twenty first birthday is the best it gets!\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Center for International Programs\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-05-11T14:35:16+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-30T16:59:05+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2017\/05\/Birthday-in-Bonaire.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1330\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jessica Maxwell\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jessica Maxwell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.spcollege.edu\\\/international\\\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.spcollege.edu\\\/international\\\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jessica Maxwell\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.spcollege.edu\\\/international\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/365fadf0f3002c8c13c2989b96aaff9b\"},\"headline\":\"Bonaire Study Abroad Adventures continue… Best Birthday Ever!\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-05-11T14:35:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-30T16:59:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.spcollege.edu\\\/international\\\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":691,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.spcollege.edu\\\/international\\\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.spcollege.edu\\\/international\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/23\\\/2017\\\/05\\\/Birthday-in-Bonaire.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Bonaire\",\"Study Abroad\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.spcollege.edu\\\/international\\\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.spcollege.edu\\\/international\\\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\\\/\",\"name\":\"Bonaire Study Abroad Adventures continue... Best Birthday Ever\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.spcollege.edu\\\/international\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.spcollege.edu\\\/international\\\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.spcollege.edu\\\/international\\\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.spcollege.edu\\\/international\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/23\\\/2017\\\/05\\\/Birthday-in-Bonaire.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-05-11T14:35:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-30T16:59:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.spcollege.edu\\\/international\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/365fadf0f3002c8c13c2989b96aaff9b\"},\"description\":\"Participating in the Bonaire Study Abroad program is such a blessing, but waking up in Bonaire on your twenty first birthday is the best it gets!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.spcollege.edu\\\/international\\\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.spcollege.edu\\\/international\\\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.spcollege.edu\\\/international\\\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.spcollege.edu\\\/international\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/23\\\/2017\\\/05\\\/Birthday-in-Bonaire.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.spcollege.edu\\\/international\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/23\\\/2017\\\/05\\\/Birthday-in-Bonaire.jpg\",\"width\":1330,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"Bonaire Study Abroad\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.spcollege.edu\\\/international\\\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.spcollege.edu\\\/international\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Bonaire Study Abroad Adventures continue… Best Birthday Ever!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.spcollege.edu\\\/international\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.spcollege.edu\\\/international\\\/\",\"name\":\"Center for International Programs\",\"description\":\"Providing students, faculty and staff opportunities on how to become globally engaged.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.spcollege.edu\\\/international\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.spcollege.edu\\\/international\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/365fadf0f3002c8c13c2989b96aaff9b\",\"name\":\"Jessica Maxwell\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9bab1c4eac016b324bb2cd6e758eceedf2fc19ce5e185591319b32a8fd7ff04b?s=96&d=mm&r=gd7be49de05d2425eaa575a4636a381a7\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9bab1c4eac016b324bb2cd6e758eceedf2fc19ce5e185591319b32a8fd7ff04b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9bab1c4eac016b324bb2cd6e758eceedf2fc19ce5e185591319b32a8fd7ff04b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jessica Maxwell\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.spcollege.edu\\\/international\\\/author\\\/jessica-maxwell\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bonaire Study Abroad Adventures continue... Best Birthday Ever","description":"Participating in the Bonaire Study Abroad program is such a blessing, but waking up in Bonaire on your twenty first birthday is the best it gets!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bonaire Study Abroad Adventures continue... Best Birthday Ever","og_description":"Participating in the Bonaire Study Abroad program is such a blessing, but waking up in Bonaire on your twenty first birthday is the best it gets!","og_url":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\/","og_site_name":"Center for International Programs","article_published_time":"2017-05-11T14:35:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-01-30T16:59:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1330,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2017\/05\/Birthday-in-Bonaire.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jessica Maxwell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jessica Maxwell","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\/"},"author":{"name":"Jessica Maxwell","@id":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/#\/schema\/person\/365fadf0f3002c8c13c2989b96aaff9b"},"headline":"Bonaire Study Abroad Adventures continue… Best Birthday Ever!","datePublished":"2017-05-11T14:35:16+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-30T16:59:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\/"},"wordCount":691,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2017\/05\/Birthday-in-Bonaire.jpg","articleSection":["Bonaire","Study Abroad"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\/","name":"Bonaire Study Abroad Adventures continue... Best Birthday Ever","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2017\/05\/Birthday-in-Bonaire.jpg","datePublished":"2017-05-11T14:35:16+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-30T16:59:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/#\/schema\/person\/365fadf0f3002c8c13c2989b96aaff9b"},"description":"Participating in the Bonaire Study Abroad program is such a blessing, but waking up in Bonaire on your twenty first birthday is the best it gets!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2017\/05\/Birthday-in-Bonaire.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2017\/05\/Birthday-in-Bonaire.jpg","width":1330,"height":720,"caption":"Bonaire Study Abroad"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/bonaire-study-abroad-adventures-continue\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bonaire Study Abroad Adventures continue… Best Birthday Ever!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/","name":"Center for International Programs","description":"Providing students, faculty and staff opportunities on how to become globally engaged.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/#\/schema\/person\/365fadf0f3002c8c13c2989b96aaff9b","name":"Jessica Maxwell","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9bab1c4eac016b324bb2cd6e758eceedf2fc19ce5e185591319b32a8fd7ff04b?s=96&d=mm&r=gd7be49de05d2425eaa575a4636a381a7","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9bab1c4eac016b324bb2cd6e758eceedf2fc19ce5e185591319b32a8fd7ff04b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9bab1c4eac016b324bb2cd6e758eceedf2fc19ce5e185591319b32a8fd7ff04b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jessica Maxwell"},"url":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/author\/jessica-maxwell\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1024"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15278"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22373,"href":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15278\/revisions\/22373"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15278"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=15278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}