FInal Blog

I’m no longer in Costa Rica and I have to say that is feels a little strange being back in the US without all the beautiful scenery surrounding me, without all the friendly ticos, without Spanish, and without the 22 other members of my group. Even though the trip could be a little frustrating and stressful at times, it was the greatest and most life changing experience I have had in life so far. I went into the trip with a few goals: to learn how to empathize with second language learners, to learn more about the culture in Costa Rica, and to just get everything out of the experience that I possibly could. I have to say that I met all of these goals and learned even more than I intended. I learned how to empathize with second language learners primarily through being a second language learner myself. I constantly had to think in Spanish – at school, when communicating with my family, ordering food, asking for directions, everything. I learned how draining and how much of a struggle it is to think in a new language all the time. And how difficult it is when you need to tell someone something but don’t know how to, or someone is trying to tell you something and you don’t understand them. I was always thinking about how difficult it must be for non-English speaking students to sit in a classroom all day and not know what is going on most of them, having to think about what you say before you say it, feeling uncomfortable saying in because they are scared they might be saying it wrong, feeling embarrassed, and feeling like giving up. This is how I felt for three weeks and these students feel like this for years at school and are constantly given low expectations based on the fact that they do not know English. If people judged my intelligence on how well I spoke Spanish, then they would probably think I was very dumb. As for learning more about the culture in Costa Rica I feel like I met this goal through my home stays. My first family included me in everything they did, they took me with them to the store, my mama tica would take me on walks and tell me about the town even if I could only understand bits and pieces, and she introduced to almost every person in her family. Family life is one of the most important things I learned about their culture. It is treasured there and I really admired that. As for getting everything I could out of the trip, I think I succeeded in the aspect by just trying everything new I could, and being brave (even though Justin told us not to!). Whenever I had the opportunity I tried something new, even if it was something I normally wouldn’t do at home – ziplining for example as I am terrified of heights. I was brave in getting out of my comfort zone. I am very slow to warm up to people and get very bad anxiety in new situations. However, I did my best to let go of all that and get outside of my comfort zone and embrace the experience I was having. You can’t learn new things by being safe all of the time. IN addition to meeting these goals, I learned so many things when it comes to the different learners in my classroom. While this trip did open my eyes to how an ELL student feels, it also applies to how other struggling learners. I was not only a second language learner in Costa Rica but I was also a struggling learner. One of the most important things I learned was just how to better communicate with these students. Using other vocabulary if they don’t understand the first time, using pictures or other visuals, hand motions, and talking slow are all things I learned to do with ELLs because this is what helped me the most. Another thing I learned is how important building a community and building trust with these students is. The students I worked with in the schools were very difficult to talk to at first until they started trusting us a little more. I also think it is important to appreciate the effort that struggling learners and ELLs are giving. Everyone needs words of encouragement but they are especially crucial for students who are struggling. It gives you confidence and helps get rid of the desire to give up. Overall, I think my patience level when working with ELLs and special needs children will be so much higher now after this trip. Being in their position and knowing how they feel is essential to helping them learn. My most significant experiences on this trip would have to be the homestays, La Carpio, and the sustainability farm. The homestays were so signigcant because they opened my eyes to the true culture of Costa Rica. Without the homestays, it would have been a lot easier to stay in my little bubble and not be forced to communicate in Spanish and I would not have been exposed to some of the things that I was exposed to. La Carpio was an experience in its own that I will never forget. Going there made me truly grateful for everything I had and also made me want to kick myself for how ungrateful I am sometimes. Not only is this something important for me to learn for myself but it is important for me to tell others about it. The sustainability farm was very significant because of how much I learned there and how much it changed me. It also is very relatable to teaching and how I want to run my classroom. I learned so many things in Costa Rica, but I also learned a lot about myself, I think it changed me as well. Most of all, I learned that uncertainty is okay. I usually have such a strict schedule, I am a fan of making plans, and I like to know what is ahead of me. When I do not know these things, I get very anxious. In Costa Rica, I had to put all of that behind me and just move along without knowing what was going to happen next.  And through it all, I was okay. I think now I have become okay with not knowing what is ahead of me and just over all being more flexible and not freaking out on the inside when something changes or messes up my plans. In addition to this, I also learned how important it is and how life changing it is to have the perspective of others. You need a new perspective in order to learn. Without it, you will always think the same. During the trip, there were so many things that I kept telling myself that I would change. Now that its over, I don’t know if I would change too much. Every experience and every struggle I faced made me have the outlook that I have now and I wouldn’t want that to be any different. The only small change I think I would make is just a smaller group size because having such a large group everywhere we went not only made things more difficult, but it also drew a lot of attention to us. Before going on the trip I was interested in working in a lower income school and now that it’s over, that desire has grown. I think anyone who goes on this trip should try to work in a school with high poverty because we all gained the skills needed to do so. Schools in high poverty need people like us and I am glad this trip reaffirmed my decision and gave me more insight and knowledge of how to work with the students there. For anyone going on this trip in the future, I would want them to know that yes, it is going to stressful, yes you are going to struggle a lot, yes you are going to want to get angry, and want to cry, and maybe even want to go home sometimes. But, do your best to stay positive, keep in mind that it is all part of the experience and how much it is going to change you for the better and how much of a better teacher you are going to become because of the experience. You are in a new country, if you are negative all the time there is no way you are going to enjoy it and you will not be able to get the most you can out if it. The trip is truly life changing and I would go back again if I could. I only hope I can have other experiences in the future that were as great as this one was.