Hasta Luego, Costa Rica

All in all, being in Costa Rica has been one of the most rewarding trips I've been on. I really learned to get outside of my comfort zones and utilize my skills in Spanish. Even though I always said I would, I never saw myself actually visiting a country in Central or South America; however, now that I have, all I want to do is visit again and again. I fell so much in love with their simplicity for things and their way of life. They make the most of everything and it's a beautiful thing. They also don't take a lot for granted which this day in age is very common in North America.

Costa Rica also taught me a lot about myself. Everyday was a new learning experience on how I would handle or react to certain instances. Some things I did, such as ignore, really hurt my stomach. I figured out I'm not one that likes to ignore a situation. Instead, I learned to give more patience and attention. A lot of times those who cry for attention are the ones hurting the most inside. Therefore, I decided to be patient with more things, let more opinions go, and work with what was in front of me. When you are somewhere for three weeks, there isn't much you can change in a country you don't know other than your attitude.

I also learned to believe in myself whether I'm right or wrong. I will never know anything unless I give it try and want to push myself. That's really what this trip was about for me. Finding my limitations and then trying to make them farther.

I think this was a good experience for me because I've never had to go out of my comfort zone until this trip. I stayed in my hometown for college. I've worked with the same people since I was a sophomore in high school. Not much has changed for me which can be looked upon as good, but I thin



k it's sad. This trip made me open my eyes to what else is out there. I want to grow, learn, and explore more.

Second Language Learning

Being here in Costa Rica has taught me so much about teaching and learning-- especially different languages. I have learned so many techniques that can help me in the future with my ELL students and have learned many techniques that I don't think will be successful.

Since my time in classrooms here have been different from my peers and I have also been able to observe classrooms, I have taken away three different perspectives that will help me in my future teaching career. For example, it is great to have a ice breakers before really digging down into learning. If a student doesn't feel comfortable or like they can trust you, it's hard to get much accomplished. It is also good to have hands on activities or games. Many students especially in elementary love learning most when they feel like they aren't learning at all and I think that was the same for us college students. I don't see myself drilling them with information and speaking at my students so to say. I know some people have a hard time learning and when something is repeated to them louder and slower, it doesn't help. A teacher needs to be willing to break things down or explain them in a different way-- there are many different kinds of learners so it's good for a teacher to be flexible and learn/ try to accommodate all of them to the best of their ability.

Most importantly, I learned to be more empathic and have more patience. The empathy was learned every day whether I was at the grocery store, in the classroom with students, or in my classroom with my Spanish teacher. I learned to empathize because they were willing to work with my Spanish as I was with their English. As my Spanish was far from perfect so was their English and we worked with it. The students I worked with didn't have perfect sentence structure, etc., but I didn't expect them to. I worked a lot on revoicing and basic vocabulary that would help them in the future. I feel that's important. When they would speak in English, I didn't want to scold them because they were trying and that was the important part.

Sustainability

Today, we visited the Life Monteverde Sustainable Farm and I learned many things; however, the one I really took away-- the one I've continuously noticed since I've been down here is that we, as Americans, take a lot of our natural resources for granted. I'm not saying all of us, but a lot us do-- myself included.

Today, we planted trees to help with our carbon footprint from our travel to and from Costa Rica; however, if I had to plant three trees just because of this trip, I can only imagine how many would need to be planted from a week in Springfield of driving constantly. Anyways, I've realized that a lot of things need to change if we want to keep our planet safe and healthy. Since I've been back, I've decided to start recycling my plastic and paper products and taking shorter showers. I also plan on trying to encourage friends and family to do the same. I know that it won't all come at once, but small steps eventually lead to a big difference.

Costa Rica inspired me to see the natural beauty in things and how less is more. A lot of things can be gone if we don't start making changes globally and then life as we and everyone else knows it will be nonexistent.

Escuelas: Costa Rica vs. United States

Since coming to Costa Rica, I've visited two schools Altos de San Luis and Calle Hernandez and man was it different from schools in the United States. Aside from the country being in the middle of a teacher strike so there were limited students-- there were also a lot of differences.

For example, students here are expected to come to school and actively participate in class. Education is a serious matter here and they don't take it for granted like some do in the United States. Many students will work to go to private school or will participate heavily in their public education because their parents don't want them to be stuck with lower jobs. The push for learning English is stronger than ever no matter if you are at a public or private school; however, we learned that not all public schools are given an English teacher (schools under 90 students) and that not all public schools follow the six pillar English education program which is pushed by the Costa Rican education ambassadors.  Next, public and private schools wear uniforms, say a prayer, etc. (all the things you would find in a private school). This came as a shock to me in the public schools just because it is so highly frowned upon in the United States, not because I was offended. Obviously, every country has their own customs and beliefs, but the classroom prayer really caught me off guard.

A lot of things were the same as the United States such as the curriculum being taught in every grade level. However, when it comes to the English portion of learning, the students in public schools are very far behind. When working with some fifth grade students, they were learning basic English that a kindergartener would know going into school. I know that when we learn Spanish we learn in high school what a kindergartener would know; however, with their country being so dependent on tourism and the English language- one would assume that they would have learned more by upper elementary.