Claire Feuer spent the fall semester of 2008 in Monteverde, Costa Rica, a place of great natural beauty. Claire also participated in Spanish immersion programs in Mexico and Spain and is passionate about the language. Her experience staying with a Costa Rican host family and attending a local bilingual school was challenging, but a lot of fun.Life in Costa Rica is very different from urban New York City.  Claire, who is an only child, had three host-siblings. People were welcoming and Claire made a lot of friends. âÂÂIts great to feel you can go to a foreign country and fit in,â she says.
Claire will be a rising senior at The Institute for Collaborative Education (I.C.E.),a public middle school and high school in Manhattan. In a school system that places increasing importance on high test scores, I.C.E. tries to teach their students to think critically and collaborate. Claire loves her school. She hopes to continue her education at Tufts University in Boston.Although she has not yet chosen a major, Claire loves reading, analyzing and comparing books. She also plays soccer on a travel team. This summer, Claire is attending the College Now journalism program at Baruch College and reporting for The Paw Print.