A Great Opportunity for Growth and Adventures

Global Experiences in San Jose provided us an opportunity to explore an environment that was very different from what most of us were used to and in a way that gave us time to go explore on our own during many of the weekends (in addition to a few planned trips to places that were really unique and interesting). San Jose (and sometimes Costa Rica as a whole) was very different from what some of us expected and they were many weekends where we had really amazing and crazy adventures. We were able to explore so much, have so much fun and make lifelong memories along the way.

Besides our weekend and planned trips, we spent most of our actual time in San Jose at our internships. All of our internships were pretty different and unique (mine was an NGO working to organize girls' clubs in disadvantaged communities to prevent teen pregnancy), although some of us had shared experiences with similar work environments or focus areas. Our local coordinator, Mariel, was really helpful and really tried to set us up with the best suited internships but did so almost entirely with people or groups that she knew first-hand or second-hand or trusted would be great opportunities for us.

Mariel was very friendly and even organized a group-work day where we all went to a work-share area with a pool and shared about our work experiences and learned about each other, which was a great addition to our already-planned events. She also really tried to set me up with an additional internship in another field I'm really passionate about (i.e., indigenous issues) and although the opportunity did not pan out about because of lack of availability, she really tried to find me another opportunity on top of the one she had already set me up with, which was really generous and thoughtful, and I know future interns will be in great hands.