Shannon Fisher
My name is Shannon Fisher, Manager, Analytics & Senior Analyst, Oncology for Citeline, Inc. My career has been focused in the market research/marketing area for over 15 years. One of my passions is travelling and providing assistance to the people and/or animals in the culture in which I am visiting. When I am not travelling, I am active with several non-profit organizations benefiting wildlife and animal rescue in my hometown. The Costa Rican volunteer opportunity was extremely interesting to me because I believe that the best thing you can attempt to do in life is to make the world at better place, one step at a time, and this is one more step in the journey.
End Goal
Being totally engrossed in the local culture is the best way to learn about the intricacies of others daily lives and what is important to them. Although we are all in some ways different, experiences such as this teach you that we also share many things in common.
The end goal of giving a family a home is truly making a positive impact in someone’s life and I am honored to take part in the process. I hope that this event will also help me to learn a lot about myself in terms of the hard work, being away from the comforts of home, living in a different culture with a host family, etc. It will also be a wonderful opportunity to bond with my host family, as well as, my accompanying colleagues at Informa, forming relationships that will extend well-beyond the two-week program.
What can I do to achieve this goal
Learning intense detail about the Costa Rican culture through this hands-on experience and through hard work will be something I will always remember. I plan on absorbing every bit of local culture that is possible, and keeping in touch with my “surrogate” family to continue learning long after my departure. Blog entries and photos that I will be taking will ensure that this experience will be well-documented so that others may see that we can make a difference in the world by participating in projects such as this.