Rustic in the News | Goabroad.com

Brent Watkins, vice president of program operations

Happy Friday! Recently, our very own Brent Watkins, vice president of program operations, talked with goabroad.com about his experiences working with Rustic, his extensive travels in Southeast Asia, and about our programs in Burma. You can check out the interview on goabroad.com right here, or, if you’re strapped for time, check out this photo and an excerpt below.

Brent with our awesome local staff at the Shwedagon Pagoda

Goabroad.com: Volunteer abroad experiences often change a participant’s view of the world. How do you make sure students who apply to Rustic Pathways are ready for these life-changing experiences?

Brent: We believe that travel provides a unique environment for learning. To take advantage of this unique environment, we focus on three core learning values that we encourage all of our students to embrace during travel: Respect, Engage, and Grow. By adopting these values during travel, we believe that students learn meaningful lessons through their experience. Engaging in new experiences, paired with thoughtful reflection, leads to growth. Throughout our programs, our leaders facilitate reflections that help students understand and absorb their experiences.

If you are traveling with us this summer, you might see Brent at the Ricefields Base in Thailand or helping with our operations in Burma; make sure to say hi! Happy travels!