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When Keri Larsen enrolled at the University of Southern Indiana, she had the feeling that here was a place that would allow her to discover who she wanted to be—a place that would let her create opportunities that she wanted from the college experience.
Now in her junior year, the elementary education major shared a summer internship experience in Costa Rica with other students, encouraging them to turn their interests into opportunity. She and fellow traveler Ashlee Holland have talked with education majors and students interested in experiences abroad. They will make a presentation at the Endeavor Undergraduate Research and Creative Works Symposium in April.
Alumni giving helped make Larsen’s dream of teaching English to Spanish-speaking elementary-school children a reality. She received an internship stipend from the USI Alumni Association as well as support from other funds, friends, and family through the USI Foundation. Larsen and Holland were the first USI students to investigate the opportunities offered by World Endeavors, a Minneapolis-based organization that arranges volunteer and internship programs abroad. Larsen wanted to gain practical experience and develop job skills she could carry into her career. In Costa Rica, she taught children in a transitional class between kindergarten and first grade. She also worked with a second- and third-grade math class.
“There is a big emphasis in Costa Rica on speaking English,” she said. “Tourism is the country’s biggest industry. The people need to know English so they can support their families.”
The World Endeavors experience included Spanish lessons and opportunities for the teacher interns to experience the food and customs of the country. Larsen also rode a zip line, a network of pulleys and horizontal cables, through a cloudy rainforest and explored the national parks and beaches.
The Aline Nunn Renner Presidential Scholar, Larsen is from Speedway, Indiana. While she has a passion for working with children in the inner city, she does not limit her future.
“Kids are kids. They need a good teacher wherever they are,” she said. “I’m open to wherever my life takes me in the next few years. I know I can make a difference in any child’s life.”
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