Hi! My name is Mary and I'm a junior majoring in Mechanical Engineering at UCF. I heard about VolunteerUCF's Alternative Break Program through one of the coordinators and thought it sounded amazing! I told one of my best friends this and she agreed. We both signed up and attended one of the info sessions a few weeks ago. Unsurpsingly, we both fell in love with the Pura Vida Agents: Advocating for the Animals in Costa Rica trip! When lottery night came around, it never really clicked that I actually had a chance to go to Costa Rica and work with animals nor going on the trip with my best friend. I was pretty lucky during the lottery and was able to be one of the first to sign up, however Alison's lottery ticket was very close to the end. I was pretty surprised by how much suspense I was feeling, but I'm so happy (and super pumped as you can see from that photo haha) to be going on this trip with a bunch of other excited volunteers and my bff. I can't wait for March and meet all the animals and help out the rescue center!