Hey everyone! My name is Zach Baker and I am a first-year engineering student. I plan on majoring in Bioengineering with a minor in either industrial or mechanical engineering. I’m so excited to travel to Costa Rica and learn all about the culture and lifestyle. The opportunity to travel for education is amazing and I can’t wait to go! This summer after Costa Rica, I will be working as a director for a technology and programming camp. I love working with kids and seeing how I can make sure that they are having fun even when they are learning something traditionally known as “boring”.
Outside of being an engineering student here at Pitt, I am also the secretary for the club Engineers Without Borders(EWB). In EWB we do a lot of local volunteer work as well as taking trips to underserved communities all around the world. Right now we are working with two communities, one in Ecuador and one in Bolivia, with both projects focusing on public health.
The program that I am a part of is Plus3’s Costa Rica trip. We are traveling to Costa Rica to learn more about the supply chain surrounding the agricultural business. I chose this program because learning about how the product travels from local farmers to being exported to all over the world sounds super interesting to me. I will also be able to develop my interpersonal skills, especially because I will be working in an international setting. I am also so excited to be able to experience all the super local and fresh fruit that we will be able to eat there!
I really hope to learn more about the Spanish language, as after 6 years of learning it in school, I have never been in a situation where I could actually speak it, which is why I am so excited for the homestay experience, which provides such a personal experience with learning the culture. I also am excited to learn more about the supply chain and the process of how agriculture works, as I haven’t had experience with it as an engineering student. Overall I’m super excited to travel to Costa Rica to learn more about the culture and the local businesses.