The coveted scholarship of the week goes to Kalu Yala. You may have seen this program while scrolling through your Facebook feed. Well scroll no more, Kalu Yala is real and a very unique 10-week program for student-interns and young professionals based in Panama.
This program is the definition of once-in-a-lifetime experience considering that Kalu Yala is the name of a village being built in Panama.This new village being built allows for a range of different professionals and student interns to come together to collaborate on the needs of the new village to ensure its growth and stability. At Kalu Yala students will work as part of the research and development team while also being exposed to the rural challenges of a poor Latin American country. The great thing about this program is that there are many possibilities and opportunities to combine real world experience and your studies. There is a place for everyone at Kalu Yala, all majors should apply; from biology, business and entrepreneurship, culinary arts, public education and community development, public health and wellness, outdoor recreation, design thinking, even media. Learn-by-doing is a key concept in the Kalu Yala mission. You will be an active participant in creating the foundations for society, everything you do will have real world connotation. For example Biology majors will work in the field, hiking and exploring the hills while cataloging different species of plants and animals. Students have the opportunity to water test, use GSI mapping and build on their scientific communications skills gaining a broad understanding of the rainforest and deeper knowledge of a chosen research topic. While If you are a communications major this opportunity is pretty exciting as well. You have the chance to create a number of stories pertaining to sustainability and development that will build your portfolio while under the mentorship of established journalists, film-makers, and digital content creators.
The application process is pretty simple and should take all of 10 minutes to complete. As always, the early bird gets the worm. If you want your application to stand out, get it in early and be as detailed as you can. And don’t worry if you’re all booked up this summer with extras; they do offer Fall opportunities as well. Phone interviews are conducted after the application process and then with any luck you will be an active participant of the Kalu Yala program by May.
Good Luck!
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Ebonie Ellison ‘17 comes from Hartford, Connecticut where she graduated from Middletown high school. Ebonie was the captain of the basketball team where she won honorable mentions at the region and state level. At Arizona State University, Ebonie plans to pursue a degree in history with a concentration in American history and a minor in African American Studies. She is also apart of the student run newspaper the polytech while volunteering as a reading tutor for FLOC. After graduation Ebonie plans to pursue her Master’s in English.
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