Costa Rica Study Abroad!
Donation protected
Jane Goodall was twenty six when she first travelled to Tanzania to study chimpanzees. Dian Fossey used her entire savings on a seven week trip to Africa when she was just twenty nine. Robyn Davidson was featured in National Geographic at twenty eight years old for her nine month trek across the West Australian Desert. I have always wanted to follow in the footsteps of these strong and capable young women, and I feel there’s no better time than right now. I have never been away for very long and I’ve never gone very far. Focusing on my independence and my self esteem, I crave an opportunity to expand my scientific knowledge while experiencing new people and places. More than ever we need to study and develop our relationship with this planet and all its inhabitants. With a deep passion for nature, I wish to lend myself to current and future conservation and preservation efforts on a global scale and this begins with an opportunity to study field biology and environmental science in such a diverse ecosystem as Costa Rica.
I discovered my calling in my first high school biology class. I knew I wanted to be a scientist, and I knew I wanted to work in and with nature. Shortly after, tension in my family reached a head and I had to refocus my life in order to support my sister and mother. I used work as an opportunity to observe or even participate in several subjects that could have proven to be rewarding career options for me. I was a seasonal park ranger, a veterinary assistant, a green team chair and sustainability leader. After receiving a Forestry and Wildlife Conservation certificate from Penn Foster, I observed jobs pertaining to nonprofit management by becoming a volunteer for Oregon Wild and the Oregon Brewshed Alliance. Still, I maintained my goal to return to school and study to become a scientist. I am now two terms away from obtaining my Associate of Science transfer degree and was recently accepted to Portland State University as an Environmental Science major with an Anthropology minor. I hope to someday be recognized by National Geographic for my efforts to conserve this planet’s resources and to learn from our past what may be done for our future here on Earth.
Costa Rica was named the greenest country on the planet in 2009 and is the only country to meet all five of the UNDP environmental sustainability criteria. It holds an incredible five percent of the world’s biodiversity and therefore has long been a country of interest to me. I have only had one opportunity to travel outside of the United States. I visited Mexico City in 2017. I am moderately fluent in Spanish having studied the language for five years through middle and high school. I spent eleven days meeting and getting to know my cousins, aunts, uncles, and my grandfather, all living in Mexico City. Costa Rica, however, would be the farthest I’ve been away from home and the longest I’ve been away from friends and family. While I accept the responsibility, I imagine this will prove to be a challenge. It is exactly the challenge I’ve been looking for. If I am to achieve any of the goals previously stated, I must shed this fear and anxiety and step forth into the world. I have worked towards this goal for many years and I am ready to seize the opportunity. I am confident I will be up to the task and that it will teach me how to be confident, ask for what I need, to stand up for what is right, and how to help my community here at home.
Another beneficial interest of mine is photography. I am an amateur nature and landscape photographer in the pacific northwest. I’ve also photographed in Hawaii, Mexico, and several states on both coasts of the United States. I’ve carried my camera up six mountains, on several backpacking trips, and countless day hikes. It’s been to plenty major U.S. cities and I am antsy to bring it to another new country. Ecological needs are most easily conceptualized if people are given visual documentation. I hope to benefit my class and my team by capturing life changing moments for students as well as essential ecological work being done in Costa Rica. Paul Nicklen and Cristina Mittermeier are two on National Geographic’s adventurers who are documenting global climate change. Their photographs and coverage have proven essential in helping the general public to understand the process our planet is currently undergoing. It is an arduous journey, but with people here to help us understand what exactly we are facing, maybe we stand a chance of changing for the better. My goal is to prepare myself fully for the challenges that lie ahead. I want to be on the forefront of these discoveries, and as I said before, my time to begin is now.
Portland Community College has brought an opportunity my way that I cannot turn from. I have waited a long time for the chance to study ecology and naturalism in another country. With classes in Field Biology and Environmental Science, there has never been a better study abroad trip that was better suited to aid me in achieving my goals for school, as well as for my career. I am both prepared and eager for the challenges I face and the lessons I will learn.
I discovered my calling in my first high school biology class. I knew I wanted to be a scientist, and I knew I wanted to work in and with nature. Shortly after, tension in my family reached a head and I had to refocus my life in order to support my sister and mother. I used work as an opportunity to observe or even participate in several subjects that could have proven to be rewarding career options for me. I was a seasonal park ranger, a veterinary assistant, a green team chair and sustainability leader. After receiving a Forestry and Wildlife Conservation certificate from Penn Foster, I observed jobs pertaining to nonprofit management by becoming a volunteer for Oregon Wild and the Oregon Brewshed Alliance. Still, I maintained my goal to return to school and study to become a scientist. I am now two terms away from obtaining my Associate of Science transfer degree and was recently accepted to Portland State University as an Environmental Science major with an Anthropology minor. I hope to someday be recognized by National Geographic for my efforts to conserve this planet’s resources and to learn from our past what may be done for our future here on Earth.
Costa Rica was named the greenest country on the planet in 2009 and is the only country to meet all five of the UNDP environmental sustainability criteria. It holds an incredible five percent of the world’s biodiversity and therefore has long been a country of interest to me. I have only had one opportunity to travel outside of the United States. I visited Mexico City in 2017. I am moderately fluent in Spanish having studied the language for five years through middle and high school. I spent eleven days meeting and getting to know my cousins, aunts, uncles, and my grandfather, all living in Mexico City. Costa Rica, however, would be the farthest I’ve been away from home and the longest I’ve been away from friends and family. While I accept the responsibility, I imagine this will prove to be a challenge. It is exactly the challenge I’ve been looking for. If I am to achieve any of the goals previously stated, I must shed this fear and anxiety and step forth into the world. I have worked towards this goal for many years and I am ready to seize the opportunity. I am confident I will be up to the task and that it will teach me how to be confident, ask for what I need, to stand up for what is right, and how to help my community here at home.
Another beneficial interest of mine is photography. I am an amateur nature and landscape photographer in the pacific northwest. I’ve also photographed in Hawaii, Mexico, and several states on both coasts of the United States. I’ve carried my camera up six mountains, on several backpacking trips, and countless day hikes. It’s been to plenty major U.S. cities and I am antsy to bring it to another new country. Ecological needs are most easily conceptualized if people are given visual documentation. I hope to benefit my class and my team by capturing life changing moments for students as well as essential ecological work being done in Costa Rica. Paul Nicklen and Cristina Mittermeier are two on National Geographic’s adventurers who are documenting global climate change. Their photographs and coverage have proven essential in helping the general public to understand the process our planet is currently undergoing. It is an arduous journey, but with people here to help us understand what exactly we are facing, maybe we stand a chance of changing for the better. My goal is to prepare myself fully for the challenges that lie ahead. I want to be on the forefront of these discoveries, and as I said before, my time to begin is now.
Portland Community College has brought an opportunity my way that I cannot turn from. I have waited a long time for the chance to study ecology and naturalism in another country. With classes in Field Biology and Environmental Science, there has never been a better study abroad trip that was better suited to aid me in achieving my goals for school, as well as for my career. I am both prepared and eager for the challenges I face and the lessons I will learn.
Organizer
Caitlin Costello
Organizer
Portland, OR
