Since childhood, I’ve been mindful of not only mine, but others' impact on the earth. I remember being 7 years old, begging my dad to take me to the park just to pick up trash. I felt like I was saving the world just in this one park. Now that I’m older I see that this one park is equivalent to a single piece of trash on this earth, and my perspective substantially changed when I traveled to Costa Rica on a community service trip in the summer of 2023.
Over the course of this incredible three-week opportunity, myself and 15 other students from around the world took part in 50 hours of community service, in a variety of ways. With the focus of this trip being marine conservation and sea turtle rescue, we found ourselves constantly working outside.
The beaches opened up many service opportunities for us to work on including, removing trash and smaller microplastics from the beaches, planting trees along the shore, rehabilitating sea turtle hatcheries, creating informative signs for tourists on the possible negative environmental impacts they have the potential of leaving on the surrounding ecosystems, and my favorite being releasing baby turtles into the ocean. When we weren’t outside feeling the warm sun on our backs, we were working in children’s schools and restoring their facilities by painting and building fences.
Although the majority of our time was filled with these engaging projects, we also participated in activities that were not related to service projects such as hiking through Manuel Antonio national park which was rich in biodiversity and wildlife, my favorite being the sloths! Another activity outside of service was the chance to take a cooking class amongst locals in the area; we learned how to make a variety of traditional dishes such as homemade tortillas and empanadas. This was a great way to immerse ourselves into the culture that had surrounded us, and I also enjoyed practicing this by dancing with locals to their traditional music and getting the opportunity to appreciate punto guanacasteco (left), the official national dance of Costa Rica which is performed by groups dressed in traditional attire of bright colors.
Our trip concluded with work on a home that was slowly eroding into the ocean as a result of rising tides. Our efforts consisted of filling large bags of sand to act as a block from the water, which in the end we had filled up close to 100!
Taking part in such a life-changing trip opened my mind to what I am capable of, along with the efforts of so many others. It showed me that if everyone in the world thought like that small girl in the park, real change is possible. It also furthered my passion in working with environmental conservation and led me to become a student intern for the Napa Sierra Club, with a deep admiration for the work that is done within the organization. In sharing this I hope to give insight into what goes on during trips like this, and also encourage younger individuals to embark on such a trip!