High School Study Abroad in Costa Rica

This program in the wildlife refuge really opened my eyes to how much work is needed to care for hundreds of animals. I was also deeply enriched through exchanges with passionate people. Tasks were quite varied. I was responsible for cleaning cages and enriching them with forest branches. I also helped move animals like macaws, parrots, sloths, and howler monkeys in and out of their enclosures. Duties also included monitoring animal health and feeding. I was well-matched with centers that suited me. The guidance was sufficient and flexible, which helped me stay organized. I also appreciated the help with administrative tasks, which can be tedious. Once on site, there was nothing left to worry about!

My name is Shamus Davenport and I am a senior in high school currently. Every single high school summer I have participated in a GLA program. During the Summer of 2023 I chose to go on GLA’s Costa Rica: Sea Turtle Initiative program from July 7th through the 16th. One thing I want to highlight about this program and GLA as a whole is that there are ways to make it cheaper! If you put in some time and effort, there are available scholarships which I have done on all three of my programs! Focusing on the actual trip, this was life changing. I can talk endlessly about the people this organization attracts. Locals, counselors, and fellow campers alike every trip I’ve been on leads to lifelong friendships and connections. Fun fact, I have flown across the country to see friends from every single program I have been on! This time specifically I made close friends that I am still close with and go on more adventures with. Then, our home base manager, raft guide, local tour guide, and many more locals all showed such passion for their jobs, sharing the environment, culture, and traditions with everybody. Something I have learned through this program and really took to heart during this one was, there are endless opportunities to grow, learn, and broaden your perspective, whether you do this 10 day program or another one of GLA’s various programs. The main thing you need to know is to engage in every possible opportunity and to stay present! It will change your experience in the program and maybe, like it did for me, your life. This was a huge theme throughout this one specifically. Every GLA program restricts phone use to different extents, but with this one, being the most remote program even during times where we had our phones there was not a lot of service so we were, in a way, forced to engage more. I have always disliked phones, I feel like they take away from actually living life, but this trip really strengthened that value for me. I feel like since then I have applied that concept and seized moments more so than before which brings a lot more value to every experience. I am a very outdoorsy person which checks out seeing as I love these trips and there were so many fun adventures from rafting to checking out the small village close by. It’s so hard to pick a favorite one. I loved playing soccer with the local kids, but I think rafting was my favorite. Nothing could compare to the beauty we saw along the volcanic river. There were cool buildings and areas for people to stop at and explore and the nature was unreal, not to mention the rapids were large and very fun. Speaking of rapids, I can speak a lot for the wonderful balance between safety and fun this program provides. GLA always does a good job setting reasonable rules depending on where we are while also creating an environment that nurtures the spirit of adventure. While most programs have pretty strenuous service work, a really nice thing about this one is that it is just another adventure. The main chunk of service consists of doing turtle walks from 8-12 at night. Even though we were attentive and watching for turtles the entire time, something about walking on the beach at night with the moon and stars shining overhead just makes the work so much fun and leads to great conversations. Not to mention we saw over ten turtles consisting of different species. I would never do a GLA program twice because they offer so many more around the world, but if I did, it would definitely be this one.