After a two-week adventure, 12 Georgia high school students
returned from Costa Rica this summer with lifelong memories and
a newfound appreciation for home.

“Our main goal was to have the students become greater
stewards of the earth and see the diversity,” said Pat
Clifton,
one of two coordinators of the young scholars program at the
University
of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
“We wanted them to understand another culture. But the trip
resulted in much more.”

For six years the CAES has offered the Young Scholars program
for high school students. Selected students work beside
researchers
at the college’s experiment stations in Griffin and Athens. This
year the program’s coordinators added a new feature.

Working With Researchers Here and
Abroad

“Our college includes several international
programs,”
Clifton said. “We wanted to offer an international
experience
to our young scholars.”

Jerry Arkin, assistant dean of the Georgia Experiment Station
in Griffin, had recently visited Costa Rica. He suggested taking
the students there.

“Costa Rica is a perfect place for an agricultural and
ecological trip,” said Marilyn Johnson, the other Young
Scholars
coordinator.

“It’s probably the youngest land above water,” she
said. “The soil and mountains are very young, especially
when compared to the United States. Mountains like the
Appalachians
are very old, and our soil is so depleted in comparison to
theirs.”

Besides its rich ecosystem, Costa Rica offered a rich, safe,
learning environment.

“It’s a very safe culture,” Johnson said. “The
water is safe to drink. There are no required immunizations. And
to top it off, we have two UGA faculty working there who were
willing to teach our students.”

The faculty members,
Milton and Diana Lieberman, run the San Luis and San Miguel
Biological
Stations. Scientists completing internships at the facilities
taught the young scholars, too.

The trip had only one obstacle: money.

Luckily, Johnson was writing a grant proposal to the NASA
Space
Grant Consortium when the idea came up to take the students on
an international trip.

“The Liebermans have backgrounds in remote sensing, which
allowed us to link the trip with the NASA grant,” she
said.

Missing the Conveniences of
Home

The students faced culture shock in Costa Rica, Johnson said,
even though it’s a developed country. “There was enough
difference
for them,” she said, “to be very grateful for some of
the conveniences and sanitation we have in the United
States.”

Clifton said it was easy to see the students’ appreciation
growing for the United States. Costa Ricans “don’t have the
variety of foods we have,” she said. “And they have
limited access to technology.”

While the students missed the material goods of home, they
admired the closeness of Costa Rican families.

“The students were impressed,” Johnson said,
“with
how happy the people are despite not having all the material
things
we’ve grown accustomed to. You can tell these people value family
and fresh air and good food.”

The Young Scholars stayed in Costa Rican families’ homes for
two days. “We were as close to them as you can get,”
Johnson said. “You see them interact with their children.
You see how important their children are to them. And their farms
are their pride and joy.”

Unspoiled Coasts, Forests and
Mountains

The students saw the Costa Rican coast and mountains. “We
were on a reserve, and the coast was isolated and absolutely
preserved,”
Clifton said. “We saw coffee fields, and the area is very
diverse. It’s unbelievable to see what happens to plants when
they are left untouched.”

The coordinators hope to find funding for an international
trip for the young scholars program each summer.

“One of the students, now a college freshman, told me
how much she is enjoying her Spanish classes,” Clifton said.
“She credits that to her experience in Costa Rica.”