Home Away from Home: Freddy Flores Chavarria

By Sofia Santiago

Detail oriented, disciplined, positive and happy. This is how Freddy Flores Chavarria, sophomore cybersecurity major, describes himself. 

Originally from the cities of San José and Heredia in Costa Rica, Flores Chavarria recounted his educational journey that eventually led to Rider. 

Detail oriented

Flores Chavarria’s interest in technology and how it works started when he was young.

He attended a technical, private high school in Belén, Heredia. The application process included Spanish, English and math exams.

“When I was 10 years old, I had really good [English] professors, one of them was from California. Also the education in Costa Rica, I would say, is really good towards English,” Flores Chavarria said.

It was during high school that he was able to do an internship at Huawei, a multinational technology company, and his passion for cybersecurity grew. He was fascinated by the intricacies of how networking devices communicate information. 

“If I want to send you a message, like an email, it has to do 15 hops. One from here to the Wi-Fi, from the Wi-Fi to the antenna, then 10 antennas, and then go to the Miami server and come back and do everything in just like half a second,” explained Flores Chavarria. 

The company for which he interned also fascinated him.

“You don’t see that technology [in the United States]. You know that here it is banned by the U.S. government, because [Huawei is] Chinese. So it was interesting to see both positions,” Flores Chavarria said.

As soon as he graduated high school, Flores Chavarria’s mother accepted a job in the United States and he and his sister moved with her. After attending Raritan Valley Community College, Flores Chavarria transferred to Rider at the start of the spring 2026 semester.

Disciplined

Flores Chavarria is determined to make the most of his Rider experience. He holds multiple jobs on campus: at the Student Recreation Center, the Office of Information Technologies and even as a lifeguard over the summer.

“I’m currently searching for internships here as well. As an international student, I have an opportunity of doing 12 months of curricular practical training, that’s basically an internship. My plan is to do three months every summer, so I can do it before graduating.” he explained.

Duo Lu, assistant professor in the department of computer science and mathematics, commented about Flores Chavarria’s character, saying, “What impressed me most about Freddy was his initiative and active attitude toward learning and career preparation. During the summer, he reached out and met with me in August to discuss how to launch a career in cybersecurity and information technology, something students rarely do unless they are enrolled in a summer class.”

Over the summer Flores Chavarria earned CompTIA Network+ and Microsoft Azure Foundational certifications, both requiring a lot of time and effort.

“They are a little bit difficult, especially if you are not a cybersecurity major, but if you spend enough time, I think you can do all of it. There’s the option to do them in Spanish, but I always try to do everything in English,” Flores Chavarria said.

Positive

Apart from his interest in learning, Flores Chavarria enjoys playing video games, sports and running. When moving to the United States, he left a close circle of friends back in Costa Rica. 

“It was a little bit hard, but I also was thinking that it was a good opportunity for me because I knew I had to make this sacrifice for a better future,” he said. 

As an introvert, Flores Chavarria worried that he would not be able to make those kinds of connections again. However, his attitude to try to view the positive side of situations prevailed over his doubts.

“When I came here, it helped me a lot not to be shy, that knowing that my accent is nothing wrong, knowing that I will get some words wrong. But it’s normal. It’s part of the process, and the thing that made me maybe not being shy was just talking with people and knowing that everyone is different. So I will make mistakes. Maybe they will too, even if their native language is English,” he remarked. 

Playing volleyball, working out and running marathons keeps Flores Chavarria out and about. He is even able to keep in touch with his old friends through video games online.

Happy

As for his immediate family, Flores Chavarria maintains a close relationship with his mom and sister. 

“My mom is the main reason I’m here, because she got a job opportunity here,” Flores Chavarria continued. “She’s my main example in my life … Before I would think that something was wrong, maybe that she spent a lot of hours working. But now I know that it was the best for us because she is a single mom with two kids in another country. How are you gonna do that just by yourself? Only by working can you do all that.”

Excited for his future, Flores Chavarria hopes to work as a security operation center analyst. Lu has even asked Flores Chavarria to speak to classes this semester about earning the CompTIA certification.

Flores Chavarria said, “Even though I don’t look happy most of the time, I am happy. It’s just that my face is weird.”

This article is part of the Home Away From Home series by The Rider News to highlight international students from the S.N.O.