From the Road: Costa Rica & International Admissions

Greetings from Costa Rica!
As my first stop abroad this year to connect with international students and Americans living abroad, I am having a great time sharing information about Union's academic and extracurricular life. This is my third visit to the capital city of San Jose and its surrounding towns and villages, which makes my travel seem a bit breezier than years past. Each year as my plane begins its decent into San Jose International Airport, I am graced with stunning views of the Costa Rican landscape that is both rugid and serene. With its persistent dedication to environmentalism, Costa Rica's 188 years of sovereignty has empowered its residents to embrace its natural resources and share that certainty with its visitors. With the breathtaking vistas that exist at almost every turn, I can easily understand why residents are apt to protect their country's delicate ecosystem.

As my brief stay unfolds, I turn my attention to the business of visiting high schools in the surrounding towns of Santa Ana, Heredia, and Escazú. With two days worth of presentations and student interviews, I am challenged--and rewarded--by the many stories of lives impacted by educational change, families uprooted by business, and unexpected delight to be settled so supremely in a country open to goodwill and equality. At its core, my discussions with students are extensive, remarkable, and unendingly unique. In a single day, I shared the distinctiveness of a Union education with students from the Philippines, Haiti, Finland, Malaysia, Canada, Brazil, Barbados, Thailand, Germany, Swaziland, France, and many more. As one might imagine, this kind of opportunity is special to me.

Nothing beats sitting down with a smiling, eager 17-year-old and hearing her or his aspirations for the future. No matter where my feet land on the globe, I am fueled by the wit and sincerity of the young people who take the time to learn about Union College and ask questions that inform their choices. In Costa Rica, scholars develop amidst the mountains, rainforests, canyons, and fields of coffee plants reaching for sunshine. Though thousands of miles from Union's campus, when I'm setted with students, hearing their stories, learning of their interests, I am reminded that education, no matter its geography, brings people together. The nature of my work and that of my colleagues is the very essence of the College's founding name that is "Union." To be unified, we are the faces of Union College.


Contributed by: Sarah Henderson Maneely, Assistant Dean of Admissions / International Admissions Coordinator

What Union means to me

Union is so much more than my alma-mater (though this alone would make it special). It has been my home for nearly a decade and the employer for my entire professional career. It is the place where I met some of the best individuals I have ever known and I proudly sat in the crowd at their weddings. I have experienced the incredible highs of last second athletic comebacks and the crushing blow of unexpected last-second losses to our arch-rivals. To say that I bleed Garnet and Gray is an understatement; and when I sing the Ode to Old Union I proudly stomp my feet and make a ‘dip’ to my alma-mater.

Union provided me with the opportunity for significant person growth. I developed more socially and intellectually than I thought would happen in four years; from a shy, reserved first-year student to a campus leader by the end of senior year. Union didn’t simply provide me with an education and a degree at the end of four years; I became a part of its history and traditions. I sat in classes with inspiring professors who challenged me to be better and do better. They took a vested interest in me as a person and cared deeply for my personal well-being and development. Whether they know it or not, the informal conversations unrelated to classroom material meant the world to me and showed me why a close community like this was where I wanted to spend my years as a student.

This campus is my home… Nearly ten years spent walking the grounds and I still find new and wonderful sights to see. The Ramee plan is perfect symmetry and a source of pride for all Dutchmen and Dutchwomen. The Nott Memorial is a unique and glorious reminder of how the vision and hard-work of one man can inspire and bring the best out of those around him: a future President of the United States, a Secretary of State, and countless leaders in their fields. Jackson’s Garden is one of our jewels and, as the oldest continually cultivated garden on a college campus in the United States, it is fittingly located in the first planned campus in the country. The respect for Ramee’s plan runs deep and it is humbling to know that the quad that William Seward strolled as a student on his way to Phi Beta Kappa and national prominence is the same plot, with the same feel that I walk across, and that students decades from now will also walk across.

Though Union may not be perfect it was the perfect fit for me. I sang in the a cappella group, became President of my fraternity (which was founded at Union), wrote a 124 page thesis on the Irish in the First World War, and studied abroad in France. I did a radio show, gave tours to prospective students, met so many great friends, and proudly wear the Garnet and Gray wherever I go. I knew nothing of Union before I applied but I can’t imagine my life if I enrolled elsewhere. Schedule an Interview or visit the campus and try to picture yourself here. Hopefully you will see yourself among the proud students and graduates of an institution in its third century. The Garnet will look good on you!

contributed by: Geoffrey Bowman '04, Associate Dean of Admissions