Costa Rica trip to promote UN's Sustainable Goals!

Brandon Zimmerer Start Date: Oct 14, 2022 - End Date: Feb 13, 2023
  • Cultural Exchange
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Intern Abroad
  • Costa Rica

My Travel Story

by: Brandon Zimmerer Start Date: Oct 14, 2022 - End Date: Feb 13, 2023
  • Cultural Exchange
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Intern Abroad
Hello, I am Brandon Zimmerer. I am fourteen years old and a freshman in high school. As soon as I turned 14, I began looking for jobs during the summer in the hope of earning money and gaining new skills. My mom and I drove around and I wrote down the names of places that were near me. I then called over 40 places and only a few were open to receiving an application from someone who was 14. I applied to those few and was told if they did not have applications from others, they would be in touch. After receiving no calls, one of my mom associates, Texas A&M Professor, Dr. David Tarvin, and my mom were talking about the work he is doing with the UN. He then asked me if I would like to interview for an internship with him to help spread awareness about the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG). I interviewed with Dr. Tarvin and was offered the internship which I accepted.

We decided a great way to spread awareness would be through short one-minute long videos for each of the 17 goals. Each week, I write a small summary of the goal including what it is, why it is important, and what the United Nation Development Program (UNDP-the company the sustainable goals are behind) are doing to help solve it. Next, I write a script, make a short video explaining the goal, and then send it to Dr. Tarvin to publish on social media. By doing this, we both hope to be able to reach younger generations.

Recently, Dr. Tarvin has offered me an extremely rare opportunity. One of the classes Dr. Tarvin is teaching this spring and will be participating in a pen pal program with people from Costa Rica who invited me to join that experience. Throughout, we will be working and talking about the Sustainable Development goals and what we are doing to spread awareness. After 9 weeks of discussion over Zoom, we will take a week-long trip to Costa Rica to learn about culture and meet our pen pals. I would be learning the lifestyle and culture of Costa Rica and be able to talk and communicate with a person from another country. We will also be working on our UN’s project while in Costa Rica. By doing this, I will have more knowledge of Costa Rica as a whole as well as know more about the UNDP’s Sustainable Development Goals which would help me to learn how to spread awareness. 

Over the 13 weeks, I have been researching and creating videos after school since I enjoy learning and teaching about the goals. It will be beneficial to learn other peoples’ perspectives and how they have helped spread awareness as well. Though Costa Rica was not chosen by me, I believe it’s the perfect destination to give me real experience with the Sustainable Development Goals. Costa Rica has a reputation as being one of the most progressive countries in the world on sustainability projects. Through the beauty of the country alone as well as its diverse culture and way of life, learning the different thoughts and mindset of people from Costa Rica makes this trip extremely meaningful to me. I’ve never traveled outside of the countries, especially for something as meaningful as this. I hope you can help me find the funding to go on the trip, and have a great rest of your day.
  • Costa Rica