Business student rides waves of change

A summer internship provided a Central Michigan University business student an opportunity to change the world while catching waves in South America.

Koby Rhymer, an honors marketing and logistics management major in Central Michigan University's College of Business Administration, interned abroad in Chile this past summer. He spent ten weeks at Valpo Surf Project in Valparaíso.

As an Operations and Marketing intern, Rhymer facilitated surf lessons and sought opportunities to contribute more deeply during his time in Chile. Eventually, he took over their Instagram and Facebook platforms to showcase stories and reels. The only challenge he faced was that the social media content had to be in English and Spanish, as he knew little Spanish.

To be more involved, he taught kindergarteners English either in school or in the office.

“It was a very interactive environment and there were animals everywhere like turtles, parrots, farm animals and many more,” Rhymer said. He facilitated interactive games with the animals, prepared food and surfed three times a week to teach the kids. 

Rhymer also did much of the behind-the-scenes work, such as cleaning wetsuits, unloading vans, planning and keeping spaces tidy. He managed student permissions by working through government forms online. Once students and their guardians signed the proper waivers, he was able to facilitate workshops and surfing lessons.

“The kids called me Tio Fruita because I was one of three trusted adults who helped navigate the kids to and from surf lessons,” Rhymer said.

Rhymer only knew English, but while in Chile, the kids and fellow employees helped him learn Spanish since it’s the dominant language there. Traveling solo and speaking only English, Rhymer initially felt like an outsider. He thought his Spanish sounded like a toddler.

“The kids were happy about teaching me Spanish and they would always be smiling,” he said.

Every Tuesday through Saturday, Rhymer gave surfing lessons to school kids. It was winter in Chile during this time of year, so when winter break came along, Rhymer focused on environmental education by taking them to animal sanctuaries, workshops and ended the day by eating lunch on the sea.

The kids also attended skating and swimming workshops conducted by another company to practice body movements. They went to the dunes, picked up trash and did color learning as well.

While in Chile, Rhymer was assigned a host family who provided a safe place for him to stay while interning.

“My host family was the most welcoming people in the world, and they were grandparents. They also had grandkids who were around my age, so they would come over for dinner and hang out,” he said.

Outside of his internship, Rhymer was dedicated to learning more Spanish through interactions. He learned how to play Catan with the grandkids. His host family took him go-karting, on boat tours, went to the mall and took him around the port. “My host family took me to Sunday MASS and that was really fun,” Rhymer said.

In the future, he is applying for the Fulbright award to teach English in Taiwan. Rhymer plans to complete his master’s degree abroad. His internship inspired him to keep learning Spanish and to be bilingual.

“The head director sat with us and loved the international component. I learned a lot of cultural things and had such a fun environment to be around. It was life-changing,” Rhymer said.

This internship was possible through the Academic Programs International at CMU. Rhymer had previously traveled to Spain, thanks to their program and he reached out again to find an internship with their help. His internship counted toward his degree in marketing.