There are classrooms that exist within walls, where knowledge is arranged into lectures, laboratories, and carefully measured experiments. And then there are classrooms where the horizon itself becomes the blackboard, where the scent of volcanic earth, the rhythm of dairy farms, the cadence of the Atlantic, and the generosity of a people become the curriculum. Such was the extraordinary experience of four students from the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology at California State University, Fresno, who spent an unforgettable month in the Azores immersed in a living education that transcended traditional academic boundaries.
This internship was never intended to be simply another international exchange. It was conceived as a holistic educational journey—one that united science with culture, agriculture with history, research with hospitality, and professional development with the enduring values of human connection. It demonstrated that the finest education often happens where knowledge meets community.
The students began their experience at Quinta dos Açores, where they entered the daily rhythms of agricultural production and learned firsthand about one of the archipelago’s most respected agricultural enterprises. Here, theory gave way to practice as they worked alongside professionals whose understanding of farming has been shaped by generations of living in harmony with an island landscape where every hectare matters and every innovation carries profound significance.
Their academic journey continued at the University of the Azores, where, following two intensive weeks at Quinta dos Açores, they spent their final week participating in research activities, technical visits, and practical work within the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, with the direction of Professor Moreira da Silva. Working with faculty and researchers, they gained invaluable insight into the scientific dimensions of island agriculture, sustainability, environmental stewardship, and rural innovation.
The true richness of this program resided in its profoundly holistic vision. It did not ask students to choose between classroom learning and lived experience, because each illuminated the other. Together, these experiences became not parallel paths but a single journey, where academic rigor, professional practice, community engagement, and intercultural discovery were woven into one seamless education.
The students explored organic farming at BioFontinhas with visionary farmer Avelino Ormonde, whose decades-long commitment to biodynamic and ecological agriculture revealed an alternative philosophy of cultivating the land. They discovered organic dairy production with Anselmo Pires, experiencing not only innovative farming practices but also the growing intersection between agriculture and rural tourism through the Rota do Leite e do Queijo. They learned about sustainable production through Bio Azórica, visited the renowned Queijo Vaquinha dairy to appreciate generations of artisanal cheese making, harvested strawberries at Sabores da Horta, and deepened their understanding of the beef industry through the Núcleo de Criadores de Bovinos de Raças de Carne da Ilha Terceira, where they encountered the impressive work being undertaken in genetics, breeding, and livestock management.
Each visit, and there were man revealed another chapter in the remarkable story of Azorean agriculture. Together, they painted a portrait of an industry that honors tradition while embracing innovation, where sustainability is not merely a fashionable concept but a practical necessity shaped by geography, community, and generations of resilience.
Behind this remarkable educational tapestry stood one extraordinary individual whose dedication transformed an internship into a life-changing experience.
Engineer Liliana Borba devoted countless hours, entirely as a volunteer, designing and coordinating an ambitious extracurricular program that introduced the students to virtually every dimension of Terceira Island’s agricultural landscape. Her commitment extended far beyond logistics. She became an educator, mentor, cultural ambassador, and tireless advocate for experiential learning. Her husband, António, and their son André generously joined in this effort, making the students feel less like visitors and more like members of an extended Azorean family.
Such generosity cannot be measured in schedules or itineraries. It is measured in conversations around kitchen tables, in introductions that become lifelong friendships, and in the quiet understanding that education flourishes best when accompanied by kindness.
That spirit of hospitality echoed throughout the entire program.
Professor Linda Carvalho-Cooley, a Fresno State faculty member who spends her summers on Terceira Island, graciously opened her home and shared not only her knowledge of the island but also the warmth that only someone who belongs to both worlds can offer. Her presence reminded the students that the bridge between California and the Azores is built not merely by institutions but by people whose lives naturally span both shores of the Atlantic.
Equally memorable was the generous hospitality extended by Professor Emiliana Silva and her family (she herself a professor of Agricultural Science at the University of the Azores), who welcomed the students into their home for evenings that celebrated far more than a shared meal. Around the dinner table, academic collaboration became personal friendship, cultural exchange became lived experience, and strangers became part of a larger family united by education and mutual respect.
Programs of this caliber are always the work of multitude entities and volunteers.
The City of Angra do Heroísmo, through its continued support of international educational cooperation, once again demonstrated its commitment to investing in the next generation of agricultural leaders. The University of the Azores and Quinta dos Açores provided the academic and professional foundations upon which the program was built.
Equally indispensable has been the unwavering partnership of the Tulare–Angra Sister City Foundation, whose decades-long commitment to strengthening relationships between California’s Central Valley and Terceira Island continues to bear remarkable fruit. The generous support of Helder Domingos and his family, longtime champions of educational exchange, helped make opportunities like this possible, reflecting a belief that investing in young people is among the noblest forms of philanthropy.
The resources and vision of the Ag One Foundation have further reinforced Fresno State’s longstanding commitment to experiential agricultural education, while the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute at Fresno State continues to build the intellectual, cultural, and institutional bridges that make initiatives like this flourish. Together, these partners demonstrate how universities, communities, donors, municipalities, and private citizens can collaborate to create educational experiences far greater than the sum of their individual contributions.
In the end, the four Fresno State students returned to California carrying far more than academic credits or internship certificates.
They returned with volcanic soil still clinging to their boots, with conversations that crossed languages and generations, with friendships that will outlast semesters, and with a deeper understanding that agriculture is ultimately about people as much as it is about land.
They discovered that sustainability is cultivated not only through scientific innovation but through communities willing to share their knowledge. They learned that research acquires its fullest meaning when it serves the people who work the fields. And they experienced that international education reaches its highest purpose when it transforms curiosity into understanding and strangers into lifelong friends.
Across one remarkable month, the Azores became something more than an internship site. They became a classroom without walls, where every pasture was a lesson, every farm a laboratory, every meal a seminar, and every act of generosity a reminder that the most enduring harvest of education is not found in what students learn, but in who they become.
