TIME CAPSULE LETTER
Written by your BSA team (Austyn, Juan, RJ, Victor, Anna, Will, Amanda, Sarah and Kyle)
Dear students,
It’s hard to believe that so much time has passed since you all joined us in Playa Junquillal for your Beachside service adventure! You all truly impressed us with your grit, determination, and fun loving spirits. We enjoyed so many things about your session, including watching you all soak up on the sun on the catamaran, working hard and learning so much during service, and seeing your beautiful friendship bonds during our final Appreciation Circle activity. We hope you enjoy hearing from your favorite mentors below 🙂
Muchachos y muchachas!! I hope you are all doing well and take the time today to remember the memories you made in Costa Rica at BSA. There were many rewarding moments, moments of discomfort, moments of fun, and moments where you started to ask challenging questions. It is crazy how much you were able to grow in 10 days of service and adventure. I know I was very impressed and proud of you all. No matter where you are or what you are doing now, I hope you know you can always make a difference big or small. Remember your values are something you hold within you and you must strive to live them out. Miss you all! Pura Vida! – Mentor Amanda
Hola mis amigos!!! Some time has passed since these 10 days you spent in Costa Rica. I miss and think about you guys often. I truly hope that you gained something from this experience even if you don’t realize it directly. I hope you make a constant effort everyday to be kind and to learn from the environment around you. I encourage you to do things because you want to, because they make you happy, and because you truly believe they are the right thing to do. I really believe each and every one of you are such great people and have the potential to change those around you. Words are powerful so use them wisely. I hope that you are a bit more comfortable with who you are and can see how much you have to offer the world. Stay weird. Be kind. – Anna
Pura Vida! Many moons have passed but we shall never forget the Summer of 23. 10 days of amazing Costa Rican sunset, 10 days of delicious gallo pinto, 10 days of Junquillal sand and waves. Days of service, days of fun and adventure, days of learning new culture, and days of discovering ourselves. Hope you’ll never forget how incredible this trip was, and it was only possible because you were here. By now you should have decided which GLA programme you are going to do for next summer! Whether it’s Bali or Ghana or Thailand or maybe Costa Rica again, I hope that you would come with so much positive anticipation to seek change and learn more about the world we live in! Travel, travel, travel! And I hope someday, somewhere, our paths will cross again! Love, RJ
Friends! We hope that you are doing well. We have missed you so much since our time together in Costa Rica. The 10 days we spent together was so special, and we learned so much from each and every one of you. Your impact on the community in Playa Junquillal was truly felt, and we hope you still carry all of the things you learned with you every day! We know you are out there continuing to work toward your goals, follow your dreams, make new friends, be open to new experiences, and most of all, be a bright light in the world. Never forget that you are a leader everywhere you go and in every community you are a part of – don’t take that responsibility lightly. We are so proud of you, and can’t wait to continue seeing the positive energy you bring to those around you. We miss you and hope to cross paths with you again soon <3 - Sarah
Hello everyone! I really enjoyed the ten days we spent together and getting to know many of you. You are all amazing people and it is students like you guys that make the job worth it. It is my hope that you have taken a lot of positives from your experience with GLA and applied them to your lives wherever you are. Life is so short so the best way to live it to the fullest is to keep challenging yourself by stepping outside of your comfort zone and trying new things, even if they make you uncomfortable. Keep bringing the positive energy to whatever you do and always remember to be kind! -Will
I hope you are doing great. I want to send you warm greetings. Do you remember our One Meaningful Goal ? Be able to spread the voice about responsible disposal of household and the reduction of plastic. At the same time learn about the topic to be able to teach family and friends about solid waste management? Have you got to talk your family and friends about it ? Let us know. Remember that you can rely on us for support and ideas. Best regards -Victor
Hi everyone! Hope you have all settled back into life post GLA with ease. I know that at time’s our mentor group activities were challenging, but I want to offer you one final opportunity. Our group goal was to “Give back to our community” and while that may be a little ambiguous, we can use it to our advantage. Each of us can contribute to our communities in our own unique way. Remember the energy we project is reflected back at us, I encourage you to project something positive, helpful, or selfless. Growth exists beyond comfort. Respectfully, Kyle
Our hope for you all is that you have taken your experiences from Beachside back to your home life and turned them into something meaningful in your own community. Remember those goals you set for yourself and as a mentor group? Check in with yourself about if you are working toward those goals, and how to sustain the energy and excitement from your time here back in your day to day life. If you learned anything with us, I hope it was that change is made one small, individual decision at a time. Keep making those brave daily choices, and know that we are always cheering you on. -Austyn
Beachside Bestside!!!
Thanks for the checking out the blog for this Global Leadership Adventures program!
PROGRAM PHOTO ALBUM
Here are a few things you can expect:
- We typically receive 2-3 blog posts per week here at GLA Headquarters from our program staff and students, so please don’t be alarmed if you don’t see a blog post daily – that’s totally normal.
- Blog updates sent on weekends may not be posted until Monday.
- Due to many factors, including but not limited to internet accessibility, photos may not always be available to post onto the blog. Sometimes onsite program staff are only able to send text back to Headquarters, where our team updates the blog.
Thank you for your patience and understanding, and we hope you enjoy following along on these unforgettable adventures.
Cell Phone Policy: The GLA cell phone policy is currently in place this summer to help foster meaningful connections between students. This means your student’s phone will be collected every day and returned to them after activities are completed to have with them through the night. Actual tech times and regularity will vary greatly by program location and time zones. During designated ‘tech time’, your student may use their phones as they wish. Please note that your student may not always choose to use this time to get a hold of their parents. If you are not hearing directly from your student each day, you can assume that no news is good news! We strongly recommend you follow the blog to follow your students’ experience without talking to them every day. If you are a parent and would like to get in touch with your student directly, you can call us at +1-619-758-3031 and we can set up a formal time for you to connect with your student.
For frequently asked questions about the blogs, please visit our Program Blog FAQ page.
-The Global Leadership Adventures HQ Team
Click here to jump down to the most recent posts!
BLOG POST FOR AUGUST 2
Today, we welcomed our 52 amazing young leaders to the beautiful country of Costa Rica! Batches of students flew in at the Liberia airport at different times of the day.
They went straight to the homebase where they found their rooms, had some initial health checks and swim test, and got to know one another. By afternoon, we experienced a heavy rain that everyone enjoyed as it brought cool breeze amidst the hot Tico weather! We finished the day with a delicious traditional meal of casado, that is made of arroz, frijoles, pollo, y enselada and some icebreaker activities to get to know one another.
We look forward to the orientation day tomorrow and learning more about the service projects we will be participating in. Also, expecting our last student Ryan to get here by around noon.
Dear parents, family, and friends! Please keep supporting our leaders’ journey here in Costa Rica by following our blog and commenting below! Thank you so much!
Mentor RJ
BLOG POST FOR AUGUST 4
Written by Isabelle, Lexi, Montana, Tegan T., Grant M., Taylor A., Connor R.
We started the morning with a breakfast that consisted of rice and beans as well as eggs. Also really good coffee. After that we went to our first day of service projects. We did that from 8 to 12. Students in the Uniendo Comunidad project sorted through and cleaned up waste at a local park and beach. And also learned about how mangrove trees help protect Costa Rica’s coast line. Guanacaste water center went to a river bank and pulled saplings of an endangered species of trees. Then we took them back to the water center and re-planted them in a safe location.
Then we returned to home base and ate lunch. We had street tacos and rice and beans. The afternoon activity was visiting a chocolate factory. There we tasted many types of chocolate and learned about local fruits by walking through the garden and the specialty chocolate in Costa Rica.
Then we had free time where many students played games in the pool. Watched the Sunset together on the beach.
We ended the day with pasta for dinner and a great salad. With Iced Tea that was refreshing. We ended the night in our mentor groups where we reflected on how communication affects people.
BLOG POST FOR AUGUST 5
Written by Taylor P, Corrin, Ryan, Diego R, Reese, Priya
In the morning we had French toast for breakfast! After that we went to our service projects. In our service projects some of us learned about micro plastics, eco bricking, the environmental benefits of mangrove trees, etc. Students in Verdiazul dug nests for sea turtles and made eco bricks with plastic waste. Students in Guanacaste water center continued to plant trees by the riverside. Uniendo Comunidad went to a beach and picked up trash. Last but not least, the Avellans group painted signs to bring awareness in protecting the land and animals that inhabit Costa Rica.
After our four hours of service, we came back to home base for lunch which consisted of chorizo with vegetables and salad. Our afternoon activity was Beach Day! Unfortunately the beach that we are right next to, the rip currents are too dangerous for all of us to swim in and so we took a quick bus ride over to a beautiful beach where we played spike ball, volleyball, body surfed and back flips in the water.
On our way back to home base we learned from Verdiazul that some Olive Ridley sea turtles had hatched. A volunteers of Verdiazul along with some others ventured over to the beach in order to see the sea turtles be released into the sea. This group of sea turtles had a very good turn out with only one out of around 90 eggs didn’t hatch! It was a beautiful experience watching the baby sea turtles crawl!
Regarding family who owns the resort, the father, Tibor, it was his fiftieth birthday today and we were treated with pizza!!! It was absolutely delicious! We ended the evening with trivia and the group named “Amazing Arepas” won!
Today was a pretty perfect day all around with many happy surprises!
BLOG POST FOR AUGUST 6
Written by Paulina, Avery S., Helena, Felix, Livia, Ava
For breakfast number 5 we had delicious eggs, cereal and rice n’ beans with options for coffee and juices. We started the day with another four hours of volunteering:
Verdiazul (turtles) cleaned a mangrove forest, dug holes for turtle eggs, and painted signs with information regarding the turtles.
For Uniendo Cominidades we went on a gorgeous hike and played soccer with some locals while emerging ourselfs in the culture.
For Avellnas (beach) we went to the beach picked up trash, and painted awareness signs for the locals.
At the Guanacaste water center, we fertilized trees and other plants as well as planting special drought resistant grasses and cleaned out young trees by pulling weeds nearby
After service we came back to home base for lunch which was a delicious chicken dish served with french fries. We then had a wonderful two hours of free time (nap time) before we went to a local school to learn about traditional games, make tortillas, and play soccer with the locals. Dinner was a chicken stir fry, and afterwards we shared our personal stories in mentor group.
