By Sarah Larkin The value of a global education is immeasurable, and Wilson acknowledges this fact with its many trips to foreign countries. This year was the first time Wilson offered a trip to Costa Rica, which many students took advantage of. Nine Wilson students along with Spanish teachers Señor Marquez and Señora Orchowski left Pennsylvania on March 24th and returned to the United States on April 2nd. The participants were immersed in Costa Rican culture and learned many new customs and traditions of the country. Once in the country, each student and teacher met the family they were assigned to live with over the next ten days. They would typically eat with their families and have conversations to better their relationship, though a language barrier did exist. The students had to apply their limited knowledge of the Spanish language from the classroom to complex exchanges with their family members. As the ten days progressed, the students sharpened their speaking skills as they were forced to communicate in Spanish. Wilson junior Kat Noll went on the trip and said, “I believe that my speaking skills have improved as I had to use Spanish talk to my family and other people in Costa Rica.”
After getting settled in, students began their adventure in a foreign country. The group of the students and two teachers go to go zip lining and to Baldi Hot Springs on the first day. At the springs, the water was heated naturally by volcanoes present in Costa Rica. Later on in the trip, they had many more activities like whitewater rafting. This was a five hour expedition for the participants including a lunch where the rafts were parked on the bank of the river and the groups had to walk up to a pavilion to eat. But not everything was fun and games for the students on the trip; they still had to go to school. One teacher taught a group of three of the Wilson students and they learned different intricacies of the Spanish language. Even on the trip, students were given homework by their teacher that they had to complete. The Wilson group went back to a different school in order to help students in the poor Costa Rican school. The students interacted with the children in various ways such as by gardening, doing a spelling bee in English, and playing sports with the children. The students worked towards bettering the lives of the students living in the poverty ridden school district. Before leaving the United States, the students and teachers collected supplies to take with them to Costa Rica and donate to the school, which the students there appreciated immensely. Overall, everyone from the trip agrees that it was an amazing experience. Excursions like these give people insight into how other cultures and people function in varying environments. As Junior Miranda Kenny said, “It was the best experience of my entire life, which hasn’t been very long, but I will take that experience with me because it changed my life forever. I would go back in a heartbeat.”
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Amelia FortunatoWilson Sophomore Featured StudentsVisit our Alumni ColumnGraduated Paw Print staff keep you updated about their college life here!
Archives
February 2020
Categories
All
|