Student learns agriculture, values in Costa Rica
By Traci Gillig, purdueexponent.org

After a few weeks in Costa Rica molded her goals and values, one Purdue student arranged to study abroad three more times before graduating.

More than 5,000 Purdue students have studied abroad in the last five years. Soon, Janet Broughton, a sophomore in the College of Agriculture, will become one of the 331 of these students who have done so more than once.

"My interest in studying abroad began when I traveled to France in high school," she said.

After starting at Purdue, Broughton began looking into study abroad programs. She spent her freshman Maymester in Costa Rica and plans to go to England this spring, France this summer and Costa Rica again next year.

Broughton travels for more than fun. When she graduates with a degree in environmental soil science, she hopes to work overseas in developing nations, improving the sustainability of agriculture in growing areas.

In Costa Rica she witnessed conventional organic agriculture in the densely rainforested country. In France she will take classes at an agricultural university and live with a host family on a farm. When she returns to Costa Rica, she plans to intern at CATIE, a graduate school for agriculture students.

"CATIE is located in an agricultural landscape with lots of coffee and sugar cane farms," said Tamara Benjamin, a Purdue research scientist at CATIE. "Janet will probably be working on a coffee project and looking at carbon sequestration."

Studying abroad has given Broughton direction career-wise and has also molded her values. After learning about the effects of agricultural animal production on the environment, animals themselves and human consumers, Broughton decided to become vegan.

Giving up some of her favorite foods, such as cheese, was difficult, but Broughton said, "The change was OK. In Costa Rica, I saw people who have a lot less than Americans but seem so much happier."

Her travels have taught her another lesson.

"I've seen that Americans work too hard, and I've learned to give priority to doing what I enjoy," she said.

Fittingly, what Broughton enjoys is giving back to the people across the globe who have influenced her.