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Name: Natasha Bolourirad
Title/Role at CSU: Fourth year veterinary student
When have you visited the CSU Center at Todos Santos? November 2015
What did you do/work on during your trips to Todos Santos?
Several spay/neuter events at a local rescue and one at the local veterinary school in LaPaz.
What have you learned at CSU that you can apply in Todos Santos?
CSU gave me a foundation for my veterinary knowledge base. Specifically I learned how to spay and neuter dogs and cats, and learned how to communicate with veterinary clients.
What did you learn at Todos Santos that you can apply to CSU?
I gained a deeper appreciation for different cultures, learned more Spanish, and learned how to practice veterinary medicine in a more rural setting; I truly feel I will be a better doctor from this experience.
What would you want people to know about the CSU involvement in Todos Santos?
That CSU is bringing opportunities to the Todos Santos community and to CSU students that equally benefits them both. I cannot speak for others’ experiences, but I truly felt welcomed by the community during my time there and was amazed at how appreciated our presence was. Still, I feel like we were the lucky ones for being welcomed into their homes and hearts.
What did you find most rewarding about your experience in Todos Santos?
My interaction with the locals was the more rewarding part. Specifically, my interactions with children at a local boarding school and with local goat ranchers during a hands-on presentation we gave them.
What is your favorite thing about the Todos Santos community?
How welcoming they were.
If you return to Todos Santos, what plans would you want to work on?
WHEN I return to Todos Santos, I would love to continue to bring veterinary services to the local communities. Additionally, I would love to offer English classes to locals and specifically to the boarding school. It would be great if there could be a two-way class where we teach the locals English, and they teach us Spanish.
About the CSU Todos Santos Center
The Colorado State University Todos Santos Center is the university’s first international location and is core to CSU’s mission of teaching, research, service, and outreach.
The Center provides opportunities for CSU students and Baja California Sur residents to collaborate with local partners and businesses to identify needs, conduct research, and produce impactful outcomes.
CSU’s vision in Todos Santos is to cultivate generations of global citizens and to be a part of creating thriving communities through collaboration, experience, and exchange of knowledge in areas such as agriculture, infectious disease, elementary education, environmental and social sustainability, wildlife ecology, veterinary medicine, and public health.
