Máximo Nivel Experience in San Jose, Costa Rica
My field manager, Ellen, was awesome. She was supportive throughout the program, although I do wish she had been able to attend my final presentation, as I had understood she would. I think Máximo could improve a few things moving forward. First, the check-ins felt very generic and seemed copied and pasted to all students. More personalized communication would have made students feel more supported. I also felt there was a lack of communication between Maximo and the internship sites. It seemed like the purpose of the students' roles and the program wasn't always clearly communicated. Additionally, I think the mandatory workshops took away from valuable internship time. Scheduling them differently could allow students to get more out of both the internship and the workshops. Lastly, the required daily journals felt like they were never actually read. I spent a lot of time writing thoughtful, page-long reflections every day, but I never received any feedback or a grade.
