Rachel spent her summer volunteering at a marine park in Costa Rica through the GeoVisions program. She initially struggled to decide on an enrichment project but knew this experience would allow her to gain knowledge and a more global perspective. Living in Costa Rica for a month, she developed meaningful relationships and learned extensively about Costa Rican culture through everyday activities and travel. As the only volunteer at the marine park, she improved her Spanish significantly while cleaning animal tanks and volunteering. This experience made her a more independent and confident person by pushing her out of her comfort zone into a new culture.

1. Summer Enrichment Abstract<br />Rachel Ison<br />This summer was one that I will never forget. I understand that almost all of the Brown Fellows can say those very words, yet I believe that I can say them with complete and utter certainty. I struggled to decide what enrichment project I would do this summer. Many of my fellow classmates who also have this scholarship can attest to the fact of my “freak out” in the lobby of Yerkes residence hall. Through this process of questioning however, I stumbled upon the Marine Park Volunteer program in Costa Rica via GeoVisons. Once I had decided that this was the program I wished to partake in, I had it in my mind that it would be an enjoyable trip that would allow me to gain some knowledge and a more worldly view. This program did that, and so much more.<br />In the month I was living in Costa Rica, I developed some of the most interesting and meaningful relationships in my life, and learned more about Costa Rican culture than I ever though possible through everyday activities and travelling around the country. Such as when a man hisses at you, don’t take offense, take it as a compliment. As soon as I had stepped off the plane I was submerged into “tico” (native Costa Rican) culture. I was the only volunteer at the Puntarenas Marine Park at the time, so there was no safety net for me to fall back on; I was officially on my own. My host mom spoke no English and my 2 semesters of Spanish at Centre College were definitely not enough at first to communicate what I needed to say. I felt helpless. However, as volunteering started and the sweat began to flow, this feeling seemed to dissipate. All week long, I would take the local bus to town and then walk to the Marine Park. I volunteered with the maintenance staff to take care of the animals being nursed back to health from injuries and to keep their tanks clean. I cannot tell you how many tanks I cleaned, from the shark tank to the pelican pond, I made sure they were all spotless. To say that I got my hands dirty would be an understatement. While volunteering I worked on my Spanish. Only one person at the park, my boss Orlando, could speak some broken English, so to help us both, I would correct his English and he would correct my Spanish. By the end of the month we could both hold a full conversation in either of the two languages. <br />I couldn’t have asked for a better experience this summer. Not only did my Spanish improve and I gained a more complete view of the world, but I also became a more independent and confident person. Being thrown into a culture different from the one I had known for the nineteen years of my life forced my out of my shell comport zone; I can honestly say that since this summer I have never reverted back.<br />