Shamir comes from San Lazáro, a rural village in Belize with a rich pre-Columbian Mayan history. He has helped his parents grow beans, corn and cabbage, and he has dedicated weekends to working on his grandfather’s sugarcane farm. He also attended an agricultural high school. When his father’s friend, an EARTH graduate, told Shamir about EARTH University it appealed to him immediately, and so he applied. With his training, he envisions optimizing Belizean farmers’ productivity in a sustainable way. He especially loves EARTH’s emphasis on ethical leadership, and he hopes to serve as “an asset to my country and to the world by putting my knowledge and skills into practice.”