By At 18 years old, Kami Koster walked into Japan without a visa or clear path to her destination.
“It felt a bit surreal, and I was incredibly tired at that point,” she recalls. “It was a situation that was so out of my control I couldn’t even panic about it. I tried to just focus on one thing at a time to get the situation figured out.”
Koster is a senior public health and health sciences double major from Missoula ready to move on to a future in occupational therapy and, of course, lots of travel.
Born and raised in Missoula, Koster finished high school early to volunteer across the globe and was on her way to Kandy, Sri Lanka, to volunteer for a public health project.
Everything was running smoothly until a different plane slid off the runway in Tokyo and prevented all aircraft from landing for several hours. Koster missed her next two flights and was stuck in Tokyo for the next day.
With the help of strangers and many airport workers, she eventually reached her destination, and her self-sponsored volunteer trip was off and running again.
“One of my big takeaways from that trip is that there are nice people everywhere,” she said. “You might be on the other side of the world with no one that you know from home, but there are always people who will show kindness and help you. It made me feel a lot less alone and a lot less scared to travel in the future.”
In her 22 years, Koster has visited 17 countries and four continents.
“Traveling has given me so much confidence in myself unlike anything else,” said Koster. “I can make new friends. I know what to do in a foreign country. I can adapt when something isn’t going right.”
Koster started saving money in elementary school so she could travel during college. By 17 years old, she was in Poland on her first independent trip abroad.
The next year, she spent her last semester of high school traveling and volunteering across the globe. She crafted a months-long itinerary where she volunteered in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Portugal, and Italy.
Though Koster expected a formative experience, she left with something more: a direction for her life. By the end of the semester, she knew she wanted a career in public health.
“A lot of the traveling I did my senior year influenced what I wanted to do with my Carroll education because those programs were devoted to public health,” Koster said.
For example, in Sri Lanka, Koster worked on Project Orange Elephant, a public health initiative that saves elephants by helping people.
“People were dying in conflicts with elephants,” Koster said. “We don’t really think about it in Montana, but it was a real problem.”
Koster and her group planted orange and lime trees around residential areas outside Wasgamuwa National Park. Elephants don’t like citrus, so the trees provide a natural fence. Grocery stores agreed to buy the fruit that the trees produce, so the project also helps residents make money.
“The orange trees helped them earn money to sustain their lives, protect their homes, and protect their families,” Koster said. “It was a really unique project. It even won an award for a creative public health solution.”
But Project Orange Elephant wasn’t the only program; Koster participated in several other projects that semester, each one devoted to public health. She helped expose kindergarteners to English in Bali, repurposed food in Portugal, and provided English education in a low-income area of Naples, Italy.
You’re alive, so you should do what you love. Don’t wait to live your life.
After Koster’s semester abroad, she knew she wanted to study public health. Carroll gave her what she needed to pursue public health and health sciences.
“My brothers went to Carroll, and they really liked the small aspects of it, like being able to get to know their professors,” Koster said. “I really appreciate how small it is, how quickly I can communicate with my professors, and how open everyone is to getting to know people.
“I really appreciated that, especially during COVID. It was really nice to have professors and friends that I knew as people and knew they cared about me as a person. I feel like I wouldn’t get as much of that from a bigger school.”
Koster’s favorite memories from Carroll have come from enjoying those relationships.
“[My best Carroll memories] have been nights we’ve spent in a smaller group of friends just enjoying each other,” Koster said. “There’s been a lot of other things I’ve enjoyed like bars, parties, games, campus events, but when it comes down to it, my favorite memories are just doing something fun with my close friends.”
However, Koster’s college journey has not been without its challenges.
“It’s been a bumpy road,” Koster said. “Part of that came with COVID because that was a bumpy part of everyone’s life. There was just so much unknown while we were trying to adjust to being at college. It’s all while you’re figuring out classes, career, friends, and who you are. Trying to do all of that with soccer made things even harder.”
An all-state high school soccer player, Koster also had a soccer scholarship. She played for the Fighting Saints for her first two years of college.
“I left because I didn’t see it as an environment where I could become my best self, let alone the best player that I could be,” Koster said. “That was my goal for soccer, and if I couldn’t do that, then it wasn’t the right place for me.”
However, between COVID, soccer, and other challenges, senior Koster describes herself as stronger and more confident than first-year Kami Koster.
“I now have the confidence to put myself and my well-being first,” she said. “I think I would let other people dictate that as a freshman, not for everything, but for some aspects of life. Now, I’m not afraid to stand up for myself and put myself first. I think it’s been a good change. Hopefully, people learn to stand up for themselves while they’re in college.”
Koster cites her experience at Carroll as helping her build those skills.
“It takes more strength to walk away than tolerate a situation that’s not good for you.”
Koster recognizes that’s not always easy, but credits her goal of seeking out what makes her happy to her upbringing.
Born and raised in Missoula, she believes growing up in Montana sparked her love for the outdoors and seeing new places.
“I grew up doing things outside. Many of my family activities and traditions come from that,” Koster said. “My parents are very encouraging to me to try new things. My parents live by the motto ‘go while the going is good.’ Sure, that means you go out when the weather is good, but it really means that we do what we can while we’re young and healthy.”
Koster’s family lives by a motto that Kami has adopted as her own.
“You’re alive, so you should do what you love. Don’t wait to live your life.”
They plan trips on short notice, are willing to sacrifice their time for each other, and are always ready to try new things.
That lifestyle led them to their family trip to Norway when Koster was 4 years old, her first trip out of the country.
“I feel like I was hooked on traveling almost immediately. Even though I was so young, I still remember parts of the trip,” Koster said. “My mom gave me a disposable camera, and I filled it up within the first day because I was taking pictures of everything. I was so excited by the fact that a different culture existed. You’re still forming your reality when you’re that young, so that was really interesting for someone that age.”
Koster describes her close relationship with her siblings as shaping who she is.
“Kam has always been one of my best friends,” said Koster’s older sister, Mari. “She’s strong, adventurous, caring, and resilient. She constantly makes everyone around her laugh and she gives fantastic pep talks.”
Beyond her family, Koster’s positive attitude and spontaneous spirit is contagious. She is well-loved by her friends at Carroll.
“I met Kami this year without knowing her before I roomed with her, and I already feel like she’s my best friend. She’s funny, she’s kind, she’s adventurous, and she’s smart,” said junior Melissa Jagelski of Ontario, Oregon, who is Koster’s close friend and roommate. “She genuinely cares about her friends. It’s going to make her really great in her field.”
Koster has big plans for her career and future travels.
“In the next year, I want to travel, work and save some money, and have some more life experiences. I don’t want my education to stop once I graduate,” Koster said.
She also plans on applying for graduate school. She’s leaning toward occupational therapy.
“I think careers are about how you can use your education to invest in yourself and others,” Koster said. “I could end up in several different fields, and I would be happy because I’m helping people.”
Despite her goals for the next few years, Koster recognizes that even the best-laid plans often don’t work out how we expect.
“You can try to prepare for travel and life in general, but you have to go into it knowing that you might get stuck in Japan for two days.”
