Students meet Costa Rica’s president on cross-cultural trip

In January, a group of Messiah students boarded a plane for a cross-cultural trip to Costa Rica for three weeks. For most students, this education abroad opportunity involves experiencing a different culture. For Grant Zimmerman ’18, however, the trip led to meeting Costa Rica’s president, Luis Guillermo Solís.

A key part of the trip includes the homestay program. Through this experience, students strengthen their cultural competency and learn about Costa Rican living. For their homestay visit, Zimmerman and Andrew Helwig ’18 lived with Solis’ extended family. As a result, the president invited the two Messiah students to have dinner with him and his five children.

Meeting the president at first was very nerve-racking,” said Helwig. “But his kids told us not to be nervous, that it was a casual thing. When we arrived, he was cooking us dinner.

Zimmerman, an accounting major with a Spanish minor, discussed Costa Rica’s economy and political climate with Solís. “It was honestly surreal to be having a casual conversation with the president of Costa Rica,” said Zimmerman. “I love discussing topics relating to economics, politics and history. To be able to sit down the Costa Rican president and talk about those areas of interest was extremely fulfilling and meaningful to me.”

Through his cross-cultural experience, Zimmerman says he learned the importance of communicating and listening to those of different backgrounds, cultures and experiences than one’s own. “Costa Rica’s moving toward greater things in the future, and I saw that firsthand,” he said. “They have optimism for what’s to come.”

Messiah Professor of Spanish Kim Yunez, who led the cross-cultural trip said, “I highly encouraged Grant to participate in the trip. He’s confident in speaking the Spanish language, and he’s able to synthesize what he learns in class, applying it to real-world conversations.”

Zimmerman returned from his trip with a souvenir—a letter from Solís to Messiah College President Kim Phipps. He and Helwig presented it to her Feb. 20.