Our daughter, Bekah, went to Costa Rica with EDventurein August of 2014, and came back to the states with a new-found outlook on the world. She gained a new perspective on what’s really important not only survive, but to be truly happy. She often described the people she met in Costa Rica, as some of the hardest working and yet, happiest people she has ever met. Seeing so many people with so little, who are so happy and content and living life to the fullest really showed her that a balance between work and play is truly key to a happy life. She also gained a new appreciation for the simplest of conveniences that we take for granted like consistently clean, running water and being able to flush toilet paper down the toilets, being able to sleep in a bed without needing a mosquito net, or even having ice in our beverages; things that I often overlook myself at times, but things she is all too quick to be grateful for now.
Bekah will be on her way to Nicaragua this July after she graduates from Cal Poly Pomona on another trip with EDventure, which she could not be more excited about. After the trip she plans on staying down there to teach English for a year. I don’t think that she ever would have come to that idea had she not done the Costa Rica trip with EDventure, and had it not been such an incredible journey for her. The trip sparked a passion in her not only for traveling, but for going on new adventures and for challenging herself to go past her personal comfort zone. She not only gained some confidence in her strength, but experienced tremendous personal growth that was quite noticeable upon returning home. She had such amazing stories to tell, beautiful pictures to show and wonderful friends and memories that she created in the course of 3 weeks. Bekah is still friends with the people from her group to this day, and she always lights up whenever she mentions that they talked, which is quite frequently, or whenever someone asks her about her trip and she gets to share her story.
EDventurewas a wonderful experience for her, that pushed in so many, many ways and helped her grow and believe in herself and believe in the good she could do. I strongly encourage you as a parent, to look past the fear you may have of your child going to another country, which I know can be scary, and look into it and see all the opportunity it affords its participants. Bekah has told us again and again that the 3 weeks she spent with EDventure were the best 3 weeks of her life and I would wager it could very well be the same for your child if given the opportunity.
Sincerely,
Karri L. Brown