Humanity: The Catalyst of Calling
Before us are dreams. — Anonymous
Career is a job when it chases you. Career becomes a calling when you chase it. In a half-hour interview — one that left me transfixed yet transformed — I imbibed this new depiction of passion.
Meet Nico Evers, Director of International Academic Relations and Professor at EARTH University, in Limón, Costa Rica. Originally from the Netherlands, Mr. Evers has devoted his life to the power of International Education. But perhaps, more importantly, he is a raw, unbridled example of the most admirable workplace mantra: fall in love with the process and the process will fall in love with you.
Soft-spoken, yet sophisticated, Mr. Evers has lived a dynamic career path of intrinsic evolution. Growing up as a native-Dutch speaker in the province of Friesland in the Netherlands, he retraces the first spark of cross-cultural inkling to navigating multilingualism at his high school “I was speaking Dutch with my classmates, but in between they were speaking Frisian, the native language of the province”, he recollects. But Mr. Evers had his sudden stroke of inspiration when captivated by a little article in his college newspaper, which impelled him to pursue international education in full swing, following his concentration in Public Administration. Since then, the journey has always been multidimensional. From the University of Amsterdam to the Council on International Educational Exchange, to UNESCO to EARTH University, he has crisscrossed the globe (Tanzania, Guatemala, United States, and Costa Rica) on a quest to pass on a slice of his passion.
But where Mr. Evers found his heart of energy was at the universities — in welcoming international students and pouring his expertise into their classroom experiences. At EARTH University, he’s magnetically pulled towards profound interactions with students, inspired by their stories of heartbreak and hope that turn challenges into opportunities. The university culture of bridging global and experiential learning to root-community impact is what drives him each day — something he compares to “planting seeds” not only in fields, but in the lives of students themselves.
Like any international experience, Mr. Evers’s learning is reciprocal. Surrounded by a robust air of sustainability and a representation of forty different nationalities on campus, he’s lost a lot of the spirit of consumerism that pervades the Western world. Having been on this university’s campus for exactly a month, I was blown away because I couldn’t say the same of myself (can’t get enough of the fruit smoothies and snack shops). But perhaps what I’ve fully realized from his journey is that the BEST things in life aren’t things or places or victories. The best things in life are people — people whose stories span rivers, whose culture carves the compassion, and whose generosity generates understanding. The interview with Mr. Evers enlivened an intangible reality that tied together the substance behind each one of my treasured experiences, including my time at EARTH. Humanity is, and will always be, the jewel of progress and happiness. Humanity is the catalyst in any career that morphs to calling.
A special thanks to Mr. Nico Evers for his passion, insight, and service to students. It is educators like him who challenge students to invest not only their minds, but also their hearts.
