TIME CAPSULE LETTER
Written by your BSA team (Austyn, Juan, RJ, Victor, Morgan, Anna, and Will)
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! As our first session of the summer, 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 bob down the river during river tubing, soaking up the sun and seeing puffer fish on the catamaran, and seeing your beautiful friendship bonds during our final Appreciation Circle activity (not to mention RJ’s amazing video that he made!!) We hope you enjoy hearing from your favorite mentors below 🙂
Morgan: Hey guys! Thanks for such an amazing ten days – I feel really privileged to have seen you guys grow even over the short course of our program, and I’m really excited to hear about all the really amazing things you do with your skills and knowledge over the course of your lives. I want to really thank my service group and mentor group. I know we had some difficult days, some vulnerable and hard moments, and some really tough lessons, but all of you stuck it out, took away the knowledge, and made the best situation out of everything. I am so proud of all of you and encourage you all to take that dedication into your lives at home. Pura Vida! Beachside Bestside!
Will: Hey everyone! Thank you for all of your efforts these last ten days. I really enjoyed getting to know many of you and learning about what made each of you unique and amazing people. I am so proud of the way everyone was able to conquer their fears of being in a completely new environment and come together as a group. Seeing the friendships you guys made reminded me of my own experience with GLA and how special this program can be if you open yourself up to the full experience. To my service group (Ladies and Julian) I had a blast working with you guys and feel as if I learned a lot from the time we spent together. Your efforts cleaning up the beaches and painting signs meant a lot to Frank and myself. I hope you are able to keep focusing on positive changes in your communities back home and remember that no action is too small. Finally, remember to always keep an open mind in life and strive to challenge yourselves every day by getting outside of your comfort zone. Life will always have its ups and downs, but it is about how we respond to these challenges that define us as individuals. Best of luck with everything going forward and feel free to reach out if you ever need anything! Stay safe and be kind! Best, Will
Anna: Hola mis amigos! I am so greatful to have met and gotten to know each of you. You made an impact on me and I hope I was able to do the same for you. I hope you are continuing to work on the things we discussed during mentor groups and service. I hope that each of you are happy and healthy and making the most out of each day. Time goes fast and I hope you are able to use your experience here to improve your everyday lives. I hope you find ways everyday to continue to seek discomfort, explore new things, and travel to new places. I also want to shout out to my amazing service team – Guanacaste Water Center for all the hard work you put in and for being so respectful to Marcia and Alberto. They love you guys. Keep working hard for the good of everyone and yourself. Stay Kind. Be weird. Lots of love- Anna <3
Victor in da’ house!!!
Dear all, I hope you are having a wonderful time. I am delighted by all the life and kindness you brought to this programme. Seeing you a bit shy the first day and then getting to show off all your excitement for community service, games, mentor groups among others, was just so lovely to see. Every day, when I saw you supporting other students melt my heart as I know it came from a good place and genuine. I bet you can inspire others to participate in volunteering activities, community service. Think globally, act locally. You taught me lots. One step at a time, consistent, caring, lively, fun, loud, live it all. Greetings to you and family. Big hug from your friend Victor
RJ: 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. Special shoutout to my mentor group and my VerdiAzul turtles. You will always be part of BSA 2023, you will always be a part of me. – RJ
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.
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 JUNE 11
Pura Vida!
Bienvenidos a Costa Rica! Today we welcomed 47 young leaders ready to take the challenge of new environment, new interactions, and demonstrating what true leadership is.
We picked up our students all throughout the day at the Liberia Airport. Everyone came excited and filled with so much anticipation for the next 10 amazing days.
Before dinner, everyone had a chance to witness a spectacular sunset at Playa Junquillal. It was then followed by a traditional Casado cuisine for dinner. We had a group activity after, all about sharing what we like and our similarities.
We just cant wait to see these leaders in action in the coming days! So dear parents, guardians, and friends, please keep supporting our leaders in this journey by checking our daily blogs and showing your love by commenting below!
-GLA Team
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 12
Written by Malia L.
This morning, we woke up bright and early at 7:45 am and started our day! My cabin and I played some hype up music to get excited and ready to experience GLA! We went out to the “ranchito” to eat a nourishing breakfast of cereal, beans and rice, and some yummy local fruit. Huge thank you to the Haasz family! After the breakfast we sat down and got all informed with the orientation. We learned lots about local communities, some Spanish and the expectations for the rest of the trip.
Here, we also got our mentor groups! We separated for a few minutes each and talked about what it means to be a leader. These mentor groups will remain the same for the rest of the trip, and we will have the opportunity to share anything on our minds. After these encouraging groups, we headed to lunch and ate some delicious chicken fried rice with salad! Once again, another orientation had begun, learning even more important things. Finally, what everyone had been waiting for- POOL TIME! We had free time after the important meetups, and all jumped in the pool playing football, basketball, and competing in extreme handstand contests.
After getting dried off we hit the beach for a sunset watch, volleyball circle, and the famous chow circle. The sunsets are… unreal. Absolutely beautiful. Having fun at the beach, made us all hungry, so we headed in for, yet again, a delicious dinner! Ending the night with a leadership activity and free time, we are all tired from the fun day and are going to bed excited for the new day!
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 13
Written by: Rachel B. and Henry A.
Today we woke up at 6:15am! Wow that was early! Today was the first day of the community projects! That includes Ecological group of Avellanas, Guanacaste Water Center, Uniedo Comunidades, and Vediazul. Most of the groups did something with recycling, painting signs, or helping the turtles! After returning for a delicious lunch! We had rice and some meat! After we took a break and hopped in the pool! Many of us needed a shower after the long day (it’s 1pm). We joined together to listen to a native Costa Rican (or Tica) who informed us about the background knowledge of this beautiful place!
After another quick break we did a DANCE CLASS! Involving Salsa, Tango, and a traditional Costa Rican dance! This ended in a dance battle right here under the ranchito. The rain was refreshing after our dances. During our chow circle Henry and I showed off our salsa moves 💃! After we had REALLY good pasta and garlic 🥖! Finishing the night with a Trivia Quiz, unfortunately we didn’t do great but that’s okay! It’s been a great day and we are all excited for more! Also, Hi mom and dad, miss you and love you! From all of us!
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 14
Written by Sasha T., Catherine U., Lyra R., Elise W., and Talia B
Today was a great day. We started off strong with a good breakfast of eggs, cereal, fruit, and rice. After, we headed off to our service projects. The VerdiAzul service project dug a 6-foot hole for the turtles to lay their eggs in. Then, we worked together to lift sand out of the hatchery. The Uniendos Comunidades made signs to protect the mangrove trees of this area. The Avellanas groups arrived at a beach to complete their signs to promote cleanliness and recycling habits, and then split up to clean the beach. The Guanacaste Water Center group planted a total of 53 trees in multiple different places.
After, we all ate lunch and then had free time for themselves. At 2:30, we all left for town to do rally games and a cooking class. We all had fun playing soccer with the locals, playing traditional Costa Rican games, and learning how to make tortillas from scratch. We came back for a chow circle, dinner, and group storytelling activity to end the day.
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 15
Written by Sydney, Logan, Pranav, Lucas, Anna, and Sophia
Today we had delicious french toast and sausage for breakfast. The schedule remained the same except for the Guanacaste water center which moved from 7:50 to 7:45. We all enjoyed our service projects today from cleaning up trash, painting on the beach, interacting with kids, and planting trees. We came back to home base for an hour break.
Our activity for the afternoon was visiting the chocolate factory, where we learned new and interesting facts about how to make chocolate and also enjoy taste testing of many different types of chocolate. We returned to home base where we did chow circle which is where we give highlights, takeaways, and shoutouts of the day. We went straight to dinner where we had yummy tacos, that was seen as many peoples favorite dinner so far. We ended the night with a activity with our mentor group which was a wonderful opportunity to open up and learn more about ourselves and others.
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 16
Written by Ryan H., Tomasz W., Jameson H., Liam F., Michael A.
Wow what a day! We had an early start to the day with breakfast being served at 6:15am! Empanadas, salad, fruit and cereal. We departed from home base at 7:00am. After a long two hour drive, we arrived at La Hacienda Guachipellin, where we grouped up and got geared up to zip line! Along with the long zip lines over valleys, we summited a rock climbing wall, as well as swung across trees like Tarzan. After zip lining, we took a trip to the restaurant to enjoy a buffet filled with local foods and pastries.
Next, we took a bus ride down to the river to enjoy some tubing. Throughout the hour long float, we were met with beautiful trees, steep cliffs and scary waterfall drops. Everyone had a great time and some people even overcame some of their fears. After a long afternoon, we headed back to home base with another long bus ride.
After arriving, we sat down to eat a dinner consisting of stir fry and salad. The night was still young so we decided to celebrate the birthdays of three of our fellow adventurers (Henry, Ella, and Taliyah). We ate some delicious home made cookies and sang karaoke. Finally, we ended off the night with a dip in the pool under the stars. Everyone had a day filled with fun away from the service projects, however, everyone is also excited to get back to work on the projects tomorrow.
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 17
Buenos Dias Costa Rica! We woke up at the crisp time of 6:45AM and ate some scrumptious breakfast! 🥐 After that meal we set sail to our special service groups! We had so much fun helping the community of Guanacaste and meeting new people!
For the scrumptious lunch, we chowed down on some pasta and bread, fueling us for the beach!🍝🥖We spent hours in the sun and water and finally we set off back to home base. 🏝️☀️
Getting here, we had some nice free time exploring and relaxing with the thunderstorm brewing! With the rain in the background, we participated in the chow circle and ate din din. Chili and bread!!! YUMMMM
Mentor groups ended the night and now we go to bed at 10pm sharp to wake up for service fun tomorrow!!!🎊
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 18
Written by By Mairin, Orla, Ella, Lara , Jeremiah, and Arian
Today was our last day of service!! We had breakfast at 7 and then we went to service. Everyone’s service day was very fun although it was bittersweet that it was our last day with our service groups!! We have learned so much so far! After service we had lunch and then Beach Olympics!!
Beach Olympics was our service groups competing against each other in many small games which got very competitive but was very fun. The last challenge/game for beach Olympics was to build a sand structure related to our service groups and what we learned in our respective groups. It was great to reflect on our service time and what we learned! After beach Olympics we went back to home base for some free time before dinner and chow circle- and the power went out!!!
We did chow circle and the majority of dinner in the dark, and then the final activity of the night with the power on! The nighttime activity was singing in our service groups, we had to sing lyrics of a song based on a given word and it was so fun and hype! Then the winner of Beach Olympics was announced, the United Communities group!! We had an amazing last day of service and are so excited for tomorrow!
We’ve also added in a blog post for June 16th. Scroll up to read! 🙂
