Centre College's Britany Neal teaches in Costa Rica

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Britany Neal plays "Duck, Duck, Goose" with children from La Palma school in Costa Rica.

DANVILLE, KY (08/26/2013)(readMedia)-- Britany Neal of Somerset, a junior at Centre College, taught English as a Second Language (ESL) this summer to children in Costa Rica. As a Bonner scholar, Neal is required to participate in two summers of service.

"I was lucky enough to get approval to do my work in Costa Rica," she says. "Professor Genny Ballard helped me plan what service I would be doing while there, and we decided on teaching ESL at one of the nearby schools."

Ballard gave Neal full responsibility for assembling volunteers from the study abroad group, coordinating with teachers at La Palma school near Colorado, Costa Rica, to plan the necessary activities and order materials and leading the service project on site.

The original plans Neal made were for a group of students to volunteer with her teaching English to children and adults for 10 days.

"The plans changed the first day the group arrived in Colorado," Neal explains. "Our on-site program coordinator, Maribel, informed us that La Palma needed a group like us to help with a different project."

The project involved mask-making for a fall festival celebrating important political and cultural figures of Costa Rica.

"Since this is what the school needed help with at the moment, we gladly helped with the project and taught English if we had any spare moments," Neal says.

While Neal was in Costa Rica for a month, she only had 10 days in the area, so she worked to plan as much in advance as possible. Once there, her group helped teach children how to construct papier mache masks overtop of balloons.

"My favorite part of the project was working with the children, getting to talk to them and learn what their schools and lives are like," Neal says. "On the last day, after we had finished as much as we could on the project, we decided to teach them a game and a few English words with "Duck Duck Goose." This was a great way to end our time there; it was so much fun to see the kids enjoying the game and interacting with us."

For Neal, though her time in Costa Rica was short, it inspired her to continue pursuing volunteer opportunities in Merida, Mexico, where she'll be studying abroad next semester. The service trip also builds toward her career plans of pursuing physical therapy or nursing.

"This trip developed my Spanish conversation skills, which can be difficult to do in a classroom setting where the language is only being spoken for an hour to an hour and a half," she explains. "These skills will definitely benefit me in my future career in the healthcare industry."

Neal is the daughter of Willis and Lesa Neal of Somerset, and is a graduate of Southwestern-Pulaski County High School.

Centre College, founded in 1819, offers its students a world of opportunities, highlighted by the nation's premier study abroad program and a faculty ranked #5 in the nation for "Best Undergraduate Teaching" at a liberal arts college by U.S. News & World Report. Centre recently received the largest gift ever made to a liberal arts college, $250 million to establish the Brockman Scholars Program in Leadership and Entrepreneurship. Centre's first premier scholarship, the Brown Fellows Program, was established in 2009. Centre graduates enjoy extraordinary success, with entrance to top graduate and professional schools, prestigious fellowships for further study abroad (Rhodes, Rotary, Fulbright), and rewarding jobs (on average, 97 percent are employed or in advanced study within 10 months of graduation).