Twenty-two Boise State students and one staff advisor, who didn’t know each other, piled into a cramped bus and bounced along a narrow, dirt road in the middle of nowhere in a foreign country. They arrived at Gandoca, Costa Rica, a Caribbean town of 350 residents sustained by their own resources.
A friendly family welcomed the group into their home to accommodate them for six days while the students impacted the community through agricultural and educational service projects.
Every summer, fall and spring, Boise State offers alternative breaks rooted in serving communities in need whether local or international. May 23-30, 2026, Boise State partnered with GIVE Volunteers to shape a service trip to Costa Rica.
When Neka Grace, a social work and psychology major, applied to the Costa Rica Alternative Break, she did not expect that being immersed in the culture would change her perspective on life.
“My life was changed by this one event,” she said. “Having that impact is something that I want to take with me forever.”
The rural town, once known for its turtle nesting grounds, lost its tourism economy and conservation efforts after coastal erosion and chemical pollution devastated its beaches. Locals live off the land and rely on each other’s resources.
Students spent the week painting the children’s school cafeteria, engaging kids in activities, gardening, and learning how families prepare sugar cane, cocoa, tilapia, and bricks by hand.
Students lived like locals, staying in people’s homes, showering under PVC pipes, eating home-cooked meals made from ingredients in their gardens, and spending time learning from families despite the language barrier. Experiencing how Gandocans live filled Neka with compassion.
“To be honest, I almost feel like the shock needed to happen because it made us uncomfortable enough to learn how to be comfortable. I grew up in uncomfortable situations, but this one still taught me lessons I’m going to take through life,” Neka said.
Her heart for service grew out of her own adversity after experiencing the foster care system, homelessness and a multitude of unique hardships throughout her life.
“The one thing that was constant for me was that I wanted to help others because if my heart was in pain, I wanted to relieve pain in other people’s lives,” Neka said. “It just became a part of my life to give back and interact with people at their level.”
Although Neka may not need to make cocoa or bricks from scratch, but, she is conscientious of the labor that goes into everyday items she takes for granted. Now, she thinks twice about the ingredients on her plate and the effort it took people to harvest and prepare them. She appreciates the ability to take a hot shower. She recognizes that clean environments impact learning.
The empathy and inspiration she gained from her international experience coupled with the hardships she’s endured, motivates her to open her own nonprofit someday.
Her heart to impact people’s lives, no matter her circumstances, cannot be shaken.
Erin Mahn, the Alternative Break program manager and Director of Student Involvement and Leadership, said, “Every Alternative Break is a high-impact learning experience. One of the greatest joys of this work is hearing from former participants and seeing how these experiences have shaped, refined, or even redirected their time at Boise State and their lives beyond graduation.”
Neka wouldn’t have been able to go on this impactful trip if she didn’t receive financial support from the Puget Sound Alumni Chapter of Boise. The chapter contributed $18,000 to the alternative break, which funded twice as many students to attend through scholarships and covered the cost of supplies needed for service projects in Costa Rica.
If Neka could talk to an alumnus who contributed to the trip, she would say, “Thank you for impacting my life. The scholarship didn’t just impact my education; it impacted me as a whole as well as the community in Gandoca. I’m now taking everything that I learned into the next stage of life, and it’s going to impact my degrees and wherever I go in life. Having alumni and donors do that for somebody is worth more than words say.”
If you’re a student who wants to make an impact and are interested in learning about future alternative break opportunities, fill out the interest form to stay in the loop.
