The Bridge - Costa Rica
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Bridge Blog

The Bridge - Fast Facts with Danny Recio!

6/10/2022

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A participant shares how he found meaning that mattered through his internship

5/15/2022

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Here’s a really cool example of finding something within you and offering it to the world:
This student came to us really thirsty to find meaning and purpose but was really struggling to find it. He describes the process of finding something within him that he could offer the world around him in the following way:
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Student: "I met these health professionals who visit people with disabilities in their homes. We visited a couple of these homes and I noticed their houses were not very accommodating to their disability. It occurred to me that I could do something about that. So I was helped connect with someone who knows a lot about construction, don Kike, who worked with me on simple projects like building railings and ramps in these people’s homes. Just getting into those houses…people chip in, neighbors come over…it’s small projects. I don’t know if they mean a lot to other people, but they definitely mean a lot to me.”
This student also washed cars to raise funds for the materials he used, and managed to fund them almost entirely on his own, which I believe added a sense of ownership and empowerment to the experience.

"I personally found this project profoundly meaningful and moving, but I also happen to know that it was tremendously touching to the families." He and I visited some of the families after the project. One of them in particular, the mother with the son in the wheelchair in the picture. She was so grateful, moved to tears to see our student, asking repeatedly when she’d see him again. You know, I think she was thankful for the ramp he built, but I got the sense that she was more grateful that he had shown care for her and her son, she was grateful that he had played Legos with her son and valued him as a person. 

I don’t think this young man is going to go on to work in construction or washing cars; that’s not necessarily what he found within him. I think he found that taking initiative to help the world around him motivates him and gives him energy. I imagine that will become a central part of his identity.

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Find something within you & offer it to the world around you!

5/14/2022

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by Dr. Danny Recio
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Young adulthood is a crucial time to shape one’s identity. We know that. And we know that when young adults feel lost and strangers to themselves is bad news. There’s a lot that can be said about how young adults develop their identity, but for us here at The Bridge one avenue is fundamental: you find something within you, a gift, a talent, a skill, and you figure out a way to have that fulfill a need in the world around you.

 Why is something so simple so powerful at the same time? Because...

  • Humans have a deep need to matter; this means to feel valued and to add value. In other words, we want to be appreciated and feel accepted in a group, and at the same time want to be recognized as a contributing unique individual in that group. 
  • ​Skills, talents and gifts that flow from within feel pleasurable and often effortless when put to action. We all have character traits and tendencies that make us more suitable for some tasks, relationships, environments, etc. When we become aware of those and find the courage to let those inner skills and preferences organize our life choices, people tend to feel energized, motivated, and fulfilled. 
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  • At The Bridge, we provide a safe and fun real-life laboratory for our students to experiment all kinds of ways of being in the world. They meet all kinds of people from different walks of life, they are exposed to different challenges, and they are offered numerous individualized opportunities for them to figure out when they feel “in the zone” or “at home” in the world, with themselves, with what they are doing or with how they interact with others. As guides and companions in their journey, we are attuned to noticing when they seem to be in that zone or that flow, when they are “at home” doing something. 
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Connecting Through Service

8/10/2016

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When asked about their experience in developing these projects in Costa Rica, this is what our students had to say:
Doing community service is very rewarding; you can actually see the difference in what you do, especially with the one at the preschool. People walk by it everyday, people see that kids can now play. It's a great way to interact with the locals, with a wide variety of people. It takes me to different places in Costa Rica that I wouldn't go to as well as gives me connections and friendships.
The people who receive the help are gracious for the help in ways that I have not seen before, they provide direction but they don’t feel the need to oversee; there is an inherent trust in the people. They all treat us as friends. I’ve gotten out of it a renewed desire to learn the language and a respect for the costa rican culture that runs deeper than I expected.
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Meaningful Connections Through Meaningful Service

8/10/2016

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Our students engage in meaningful community service projects all over Costa Rica with local Ticos. This allows them to connect with different populations in need and learn to value their own contributions as well as the relationships that one can develop with any human being.

Bridge students will do at least 50 hours of community service, and easily reach 150 before they graduate.

A couple of students recently shared a morning with the center for special needs in our town, where they made breakfast, danced and taught them some English. The gratitude and bond was visible and reciprocal.
Seeing the smiles on their faces when we were interacting with them. How appreciative they were, how much they enjoyed having us there. I’m passionate about working with people with special needs, and doing that in a different country was amazing. Every time I do something like that, I appreciate my life and these people so much.
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I’ve worked with special ed students before, they’ve only been younger students than me. Getting to see adults with disabilities, functioning within a structure but happily. Being able to provide them with learning a new language, and seeing them behave like any other class I’ve taught before was interesting. Being able to cook for them was amazing, because they all appreciated the effort and they made that known.
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  • The Bridge
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