Ask any EARTHiano which course best represents the EARTH educational experience and you will likely hear about one of the following:
Work Experience:
In your first and second year, you will work biweekly on crop, livestock and forestry production modules on EARTH’s many farms. In your fourth year, you will complete the professional experience module, developing and implementing a work plan that relates to your personal career goals.
Entrepreneurial Project:
You will develop and run your own business while at EARTH. In your first year, you will form a company with four to six classmates and create a business plan that analyzes financial, social and environmental factors. Once the project is approved, the University will grant your company a loan to operate the business during your second year. In the third year, you will close the business and formally evaluate its profitability and effectiveness. After repaying your loan with interest, you share the profits among your group.
Community Experience:
In your second and third year, you will work with individual small farmers and organized groups on sustainable community development activities. During this experience, you will collaboratively evaluate and address problems facing these rural communities.
Experience at EARTH-La Flor:
In your third year you will spend seven weeks in Guanacaste, in Costa Rica’s dry tropics, living with a host family. You will do mini-internships with local agricultural businesses, develop a community project and meet weekly with your classmates to share experiences, conduct research and receive support from EARTH faculty.
Internships:
During your third year, you will complete a 15-week internship. You can return to your home country or community to begin developing local contacts, or do an internship in a new country to expand your horizons and cultural understanding.
Graduation Projects:
During your fourth year, you will research applicable solutions to the challenges facing tropical communities, and write a research paper under your professors’ guidance.
