Part of winning the Benjamin A. Gilman scholarship is becoming a global student ambassador. Thus, integrating into my new community in Heredia, Costa Rica was very important during my entire academic year abroad. One of the ways in which I accomplished this goal was by developing my skills as an English Teaching Assistant (E.T.A.).
I began volunteering as an E.T.A. in Heredia, Costa Rica with Professor Milly, who taught at both the elementary and university level. For many of my students, I was the first native English-speaker they had ever met. In the classroom, I spent part of the day singing nursery rhymes with children like "Bubble Gum, Bubble Gum", "I’m Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee", and Hickory Dickory Dock," just to name a few. Through fun activities and songs, younger students were much more engaged with learning English. To my surprise, the younger students would learn the new English songs so fast that by the end of the day they would be singing them perfectly. In contrast, working with students at the university level was much different. I mainly gave presentations about American culture, slang, and my life as a student in the U.S.. During these intercultural exchanges, I quickly grasped the importance of learning a second language in the U.S.
