By Claudia Perez, University of Missouri–Kansas City
The picture on the left shows me being trapped into a group hug by the garden students on my last day!
Looking back at your research travels, how do you feel this experience has helped you academically and professionally? What is the value of engaging with research in global contexts?
Being in Santiago, Chile has completely shifted my academic and professional views and pursuits. During my internship at Huertas Comunitarias, I learned firsthand that Chilean work culture deeply values building strong personal bonds through meaningful conversations. Every week, I would meet up with my supervisor, Vane, before heading to the community garden for the day. In those small, traffic-riddled trips, I learned so much about her passions and principles.
This taught me that engaging with research in a global context is about understanding the human ecosystems behind them. It is incredibly valuable to experience a different culture because it forces you to expand your understanding of yourself and open your world to diverse perspectives. There is an immense amount of qualitative information and deep contextual knowledge that you can learn simply from having a genuine conversation with one person. It has completely reframed the academic value of field research I previously held.
What skills are you walking away with as a result of this global research experience that you would not have otherwise been able to develop?
My curiosity has definitely grown, developing into a core professional skill that allows me to navigate cross-cultural communication. By stepping outside of a structured US-style environment, I learned how to practice active, high-context listening and build rapid trust with community members. Conducting reforestation research required me to manage heavy email correspondence and outreach to local universities and the overall community. Through this, I improved my professional writing skills (especially my Spanish), and a successful introduction in Chile begins with a genuine, polite inquiry into someone’s well-being. I took complex environmental goals and communicated them in a way that resonated with everyone.
What is one salient message or theme that you’ve encountered in your journey? Why do you feel this is important to share?
The most salient theme of my journey is the transformative power of community connection and human-centric living. I saw this in the unique, unapologetic way the people I met embraced life and each other: the way my host family loved Merkén, the way Señora Pilar, one of the community inhabitants that utilized the garden, told me the garden gave her life, how Florencia, an elementary school student at one of the garden locations, wants to be a farmer when she grows up, how Vane, my supervisor, dreams of living in Brazil one day, and how Ignacia, my host mom told me about her childhood dog that meant so much to her.
It’s a quiet way of living, and it’s so unapologetic. It is vital to share this because it highlights how much someone can change your worldview through simple words and small acts of kindness. That’s what I love about Chile. Even the one-off conversations I’ve had with Uber drivers gave me insight into what it’s like to live in their world and in such a beautiful country. People here are patriotic in a way that isn’t about pride for their nation’s power, but for the actual people who inhabit it. They want what is best for their collective way of living and want to make a change in any way they can. They treat each other like their own family.
I went on a small trip to Puerto Natales and befriended the tour guide leading the hike to a Torres Del Paine hike. He later invited me to stay with his family in a small town two hours away from Santiago! I visited them two weeks after the hike and they were so amazing.
What do you want this project to say about yourself and your interests? What’s next for you, and how has this research experience served as a stepping stone for future endeavors?
I want this project to show that I have evolved to a people-driven researcher who values community impact over data collection. This research trip has made me realize that I don’t want to work in a lab for the rest of my life. I have met and talked to so many new people here, and I feel like our bonds grew exponentially during the program. I know lab positions are lucrative, but I know the repetitive nature will affect me down the line. Instead, I want to pursue a career where I can actively talk to, help, and really get to know people.
Moving forward, I still plan to pursue a master’s degree, but in an environment that prioritizes public health, social field research, or community development rather than traditional bench science. This experience has been the ultimate stepping stone because it forced me to think differently about my own path. I want to keep growing and achieve amazing things, just as the people I’ve met here have done. They’ve lived so much life, and although they’ve done so differently, each has a unique takeaway from their chosen path. It is so inspiring meeting people
who have followed their passion and are so willing to share that with a stranger. It never felt awkward either. I wasn’t expected to contribute anything special, but sharing the mundane, small details of life is exactly what made this trip so life-changing for me.
Viva Chile!
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