Widener University students recently completed the university’s first international internships, taking on environmental projects in Costa Rica, writes Nicole Carrera, assistant director of communications at Widener University.
The hands-on activities offered valuable learning opportunities to the students, who were accompanied by Beatriz Urraca, Widener chair of modern languages; and Stephen Madigosky, professor of environmental science and biology.
The students worked in various locations around the country, immersing themselves in a new culture as they developed an appreciation for sustainability and sustainable practices while developing new career skills.
The Costa Rican visit also allowed Urraca and Madigosky to develop valuable relationships in the coffee industry that can lead to future opportunities for the students.
“We know people from many sectors in Costa Rica that connect with coffee in some way or another,” said Madigosky.
That includes farmers, roasters, exporters, engineers, and research agronomists.
Urraca and Madigosky take students to Costa Rica for week-long trips as part of their class “Coffee, Culture, and the Environment in Costa Rica,” but the new internships are more intense, based on developing soft and hard skills.
Students spent the first week at the National University of Costa Rica, working alongside business students and faculty. There they learned teamwork, problem solving, adaptability and time management.
Students immersed themselves in Costa Rican culture, adapting to new customs in separate homestay placements, working in different small businesses.
Jenna Waldron, Class of 2025, found a farm full of vibrant plants and people when she arrived at her homestay location at Finca Lluvias de Gloria, which translates to “Rains of Glory Estate.”
“The farm was an absolute testament to its name,” said Waldron. “There were plants flourishing everywhere. It was the rainy season, and I remember my homestay mom, Doña Hermida Porras, being so happy about that. Every plant there was touched by her and planted by hand.”
The farm grows coffee, bananas, and other plants native to the area. The internship project assigned to Waldron and her partner involved the creation of a guide to plant life on the farm for tourists and visitors.
By the end of their stay, they had catalogued over 40 plants, and Waldron hopes one day their work will be continued and be translated into multiple languages.
She also worked to plant a natural barrier of more than 200 native trees along the property’s edge to keep out cattle from a neighboring farm.
“There are no short cuts here. [Costa Ricans] tend to go all in and give their all for everything, and you can see how much care and thought goes into it,” she said..
Widener student Naomi Knight spent her full internship at the National University of Costa Rica, where she did “a little bit of everything” from setting up an environmental fair to volunteering at the university’s research coffee farm, in addition to her main internship goal–to examine how soft skills translate across cultures.
Knight led the students in a series of games that put all those skills to the test.
“A lot of Costa Ricans really do want to practice their English, and they usually have to practice with another primary Spanish speaker instead of a primary English speaker. So, I was able to use that to my advantage and have it be a two-way street for me to learn Spanish from them and them to learn English from me,” she said..
Knight used her free time to do some exploring, some zip lining and take a cooking class. She also visited markets with locally grown produce.
Funding and support for the trip came largely from the U.S. Department of State program IDEAS, with funding provided by the U.S. Government and supported in its implementation by World Learning.
Urraca and Madigosky were awarded the IDEAS grant, which helped make the trip possible.
Urraca recently represented Widener at a grant winners’ symposium in Washington, D.C., where she was able to exchange ideas with other grant recipients and with various agency officials at the Department of State.
Students received funding from the Office of the Provost, and some received additional support through Experience MORE!, a donor-funded program that allows students in the College of Arts & Sciences to seize opportunities in meaningful internships that would otherwise be unpaid or underpaid.
Both Waldron and Knight hope to be medical field professionals.
“Healthcare has no boundaries. Everyone is going to need to interact with healthcare no matter where you’re from, what race you are, or what language you speak,” said Knight, a psychology major on the pre-physical therapy 3+3 track with a minor in African American studies.
Waldron, a biology major and psychology minor in the pre-dental program, echoed Knight’s sentiment.
“Being a dentist, you need to have good interpersonal skills and understand where people are coming from and meet them where they’re at,” she said.
Waldron also gained a new appreciation for sustainability and sustainable practices.
“I was there learning and thinking about what I can bring back to school. It made me more conscious about my consumption. They’re so resourceful there and I can be resourceful in my life too. It was just an experience I will carry with me forever.”
