Hargan Experiences Once-in-a-Lifetime Educational Trip to Galapagos Islands

MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Many people may have heard of the Galapagos Islands, the notable archipelago (a province of Ecuador) off the coast of South America known for its immaculate biodiversity, but few ever get the first-hand chance to experience its wonder. For volleyball and beach volleyball's M.E. Hargan, that opportunity came true this spring.

Hargan, a sophomore from Elizabethtown, Ky., traveled with a group from Morehead State University to the islands for a Level Up course. Level Up is a recently added academic feature at Morehead State and helps students "gain a competitive edge with career-oriented courses, faculty mentoring, and hands-on experience."

Trips like these can be available to students in certain level up courses, and Hargan says it's worth it, even if someone has never traveled before.

"(Traveling abroad) is important because you may be one of those who think you can't do it or it's super scary but in actuality it is something I think everyone should experience," she said. "I surprised myself in how well I adapted to the different culture there and my surroundings. It is just a one-of-a-kind experience to be able to study abroad, and it broadens your horizon tremendously."

Hargan's trip definitely qualified as a unique hands-on experience.

"This trip was a biology course taken through the university called biology 399, which was considered a level up class as well. The purpose was to choose an endemic organism to research from the Galapagos Islands and try to relate what we researched (evolutionary history) to our first-hand experience with finding our organism on the islands," she said. "I personally chose to do the Galapagos land snails and ending up finding one live species and a lot of dead shells as they are rapidly going extinct."

Hargan's trip included airplanes and boats and stays on three different islands. 

"We traveled to Quito (Ecuador) on an international flight and then from there we flew to the Galapagos Islands, with the first island being San Cristobal," she stated. "From there we went to the island of Santa Cruz via ferry boat and stayed for two days. Then we traveled to the last island Isabela and stayed there for two days as well. We spent one of the final days traveling via ferries all the way back to the first island San Cristobal. We traveled across the three islands and stayed overall for seven days on the trip including travel days."

Along with studying her land snails, Hargan says there were plenty of fun activities as well.

"We got to hike 10 miles up the Sierra Negra Volcano on the island of Isabela (this is where I found my live land snail species!). It was a super difficult and humid hike, and everyone was gassed but that view was out of this world and couldn't be beaten and we even got to see horses and pet them on our hike up there which was awesome," she said. "On Santa Cruz Island we went to El Chato Ranch, which is where the endemic giant tortoises like to go, and we got to see them up close and personal which was incredible to see them as some of them are speculated to be hundreds of years old. Also, on Santa Cruz Island we took a seven-mile walk/hike to Tortuga Bay to snorkel on our own and we got to see a baby hammerhead shark along with more sea turtles and even some sort of manta rays."

While not studying them specifically, she said sea lions are kind of part of the culture on the islands.

"Sea lions there are everywhere and completely not afraid of humans, so they like to just chill anywhere and everywhere, and it was always so funny to spot where they would be hanging out on the sidewalks/benches."

Hargan will always remember her experience swimming with sea creatures.

"There were so many exciting things we did on the trip, but the most exciting was definitely when we did an actual snorkeling tour and swam with sea turtles, sharks, and sea horses," she said. "It was truly incredible to see these animals up close and personal and one of the sea turtles actually bumped into me."

Not only did she get to learn more about an area of study important to her (and all of planet Earth), she also learned some important things about herself. 

"I learned the importance of staying alert in new surroundings, and that I can navigate my way through a completely different cultural area and use a little Spanish of what I have learned to aid me in doing so," she commented. "But, really its about the immense amount of biodiversity on the Galapagos Islands. It was amazing to see that and the organisms there first-hand. It was truly an unforgettable experience, and I will never forget my time spent there and the memories made."

While not all level-up courses include travel, students can find more information here: https://www.moreheadstate.edu/student-support/career-ready/level-up/