My name is Angel and I’m a third-year student majoring in Public Health Sciences. I was born and raised in El Salvador and migrated to the U.S at the age of fifteen.
Throughout the past two years, I’ve lived in the Arroyo Vista housing community because I appreciate their emphasis on sustainability. I’m currently the Vice President of Arroyo Vista’s Student Council, and along with my coworkers, we program events for our housing community. At the end of our programs, we encourage students to divert their trash from the landfill and instead compost. Since a very young age, I have had a passion for both animals and nature which has caused me to worry about their wellbeing. It saddens me to see how we are rapidly deteriorating our diverse ecosystems. These concerns are the reasons why I applied for the Costa Rica Program– because it would give me the opportunity to acquire more knowledge about sustainability and gain environmental awareness. I would like to learn the dynamics that Costa Ricans use to protect our flora and fauna. Throughout my experience, I have noticed that people from rural areas are more connected and conscious of nature in comparison to individuals from the urban area. Therefore, interacting with Ticos will help me to assimilate their affinity towards our ecosystem. As a result, I’ll bring this knowledge to the community of Arroyo Vista. I’m thrilled to learn better ways to efficaciously address sustainability to empathize residents about the horrendous effects that waste causes to our ecosystems.