Local youth displaying academic proficiency at EARTH

July 17th, 2018 -- University in Costa Rica Leron Webbe recently received the Distinguished Student Award at this agricultural school in the Central American country Leron Webbe, a young man from Charlestown, St. Kitts and Nevis, now a third-year student at EARTH University in Costa Rica (Central America) continues displaying his academic proficiency, recently receiving the Distinguished Student Award from the Dean’s office for his performance from last year. Webbe arrived in Costa Rica in 2015 -part of the Spanish program before starting classes- with a strong determination to study agriculture and take back his knowledge to his home nation.

“EARTH is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited in my life. My dream is to go back to my country and improve the animal production systems in my country with forage, meat production; so I want to make my country more sustainable and provide more meat for the market.” He has received the special distinction for two years running as a result of his achievements, not only maintaining a Grade-Point-Average (GPA) of 8.5 or higher, but also for being an inspiration to other students. “The success to my academic achievements was staying motivated and determined to make not only me but my family and country proud. I was able to obtain the Distinguished Student Award by working hard and surrounding myself with friends that are also hard working.

They pushed me so that I could go the extra mile and achieve great things.” Leron’s favorite classes so far have been soil management and, of course, animal production. But, how has he managed learning such technical information in Spanish? “In the beginning, it was difficult because I had professors from different countries (EARTH’s faculty comes from more than 15 countries) and they all had different accents, so it was kind of difficult understanding the material. Some of the professors spoke very fast, so it made it even harder to understand. A positive attitude and passion for what you´re doing makes it a lot easier to achieve your goals.” Leron, along all other EARTH third-year students, will begin a new journey in August with their 15-week internship.

The idea is that students receive real-world experience in something related to the field they are interested in, to evaluate and decide if it is the path they want to pursue. “I´m currently approaching the internship period and I will be travelling to Trinidad and Tobago. I will be doing my internship with IICA (Inter- American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture) where I will be working in the area of animal production. The process has been going well so far and I´m really looking forward to working with this institution.” Webbe is expected to graduate from EARTH University in December, 2019. All three current students from Saint Kitts and Nevis at EARTH, including Hydeia Alexthia Tyson (2021) and Devene Janelle Smithen (2018), are sponsored by Mrs. Anne Bass, who has deep connections to the islands.

Mrs. Bass intends to sponsor a total of eight Nevisian students over time. If you are interested in becoming a future leader of change, learn about sustainable agriculture and entrepreneurship, you can apply to study at EARTH University between November 1st and February 28th. For more information, Visit: https://www.earth.ac.cr/en/study-at-earth/how-to-apply/ Email: admisiones@earth.ac.cr About EARTH University: EARTH University is a private, non-profit university that offers an undergraduate licenciature degree in agronomy. The university invests in students – predominantly from Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa – working to become leaders of positive socio-economic and environmental change for their home countries and the world at large through a techno-scientific education emphasizing Social entrepreneurship