An Environmental Studies major at Brown University in Rhode Island, she chose to attend a semester in Costa Rica, at the School for Field Studies Center for Sustainable Develop-ment in Atenas. Students there get full credit in their university programs and live on a small farm studded with mango and orange trees in Barrio Los Angeles, on the eastern outskirts of town. The school s founder and president, Terry L. Andrea, developed the hands-on program to enable motivated young people to become more environmentally aware. It also gives them practical education while they participate in real-life dilemmas that affect the environment. Headquartered in Beverly, Massachusetts, the school operates six different field study centers around the world, in Australia, Canada, Kenya, Mexico and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
All schools work with endangered ecosystems.
In Kenya, for example, the center is dedicated to wildlife management, while in Mexico students are introduced to the largest remaining wetlands in the Pacific Americas. During our breaks, we travel around, getting a taste for different cultures, like in Guanacaste, the Caribbean and the city life of San Jos . The center supports reforestation, forest protection and promotes agroforestry systems. The school offers an interesting mix of lectures, field trips, Spanish lessons, chores, and sports. In addition to their academic and field activities, students are expected to put significant energy into group living.