Life Changing-Heart Opening-Brain Filling-Laugh till you Cry Study Abroad Experience

I woke up to the deep guttural yell from a Howler Monkey in a nearby palm tree. As I unzipped out of my tent, I instantly felt the warm sun greeting me. I stepped out onto a isolated sandy beach, and gazed out watching the ocean waves roll in. As I looked to the other side, nothing but a wall of green- plants of all new varieties to me danced before my eyes. This was only day 5 of what was to be a semester long study abroad experience and I just sat there in a dream state for a moment. I was snapped out of it when I heard "Miguelito! Breakfast, come on!" from my new friend and teaching assistant, and I knew in that instant, that my life would never be the same after this semester.

Memories of moments like these flood me when I recollect on my study abroad experience in Costa Rica through the CIEE - Tropical Ecology and Conservation program. Although based in Monteverde ( a serene cloud forest town high in the mountains near the continental divide), this program took us around the whole country traveling by foot, boat, and bus. From the beautiful tropical forest in Parque Nacional Corcovado (which is where the above described memory occurred) to dry forests in Santa Rosa, to the Caribbean coast watching sea turtles laying their eggs, this program gets you up close and personal with life to the fullest. It is a biologists, ecologists, or any lover of life's dream. Beyond this you learn about the human dimension- culture, farming, coffee, cacao, socioeconomic issues, development, sustainability, food, food and food!

To be quite honest, I had no expectations going into the program. When I reflect on the CIEE- Tropical Ecology and Conservation program I could go on and on about the incredible education, cultural immersion, soul-shaking experience that this semester was but I want to share with you something that sets it apart from the others. And this has to do with the way the program as a whole is structured. Instead of a study abroad experience where you go to a different country maybe get set up with a host family, attend a local university, meet a few new friends nearby, the CIEE TE & C program sets you up with a family. (Yes 1 month is spent living with a Costa Rican host family and it is awesome) What I mean by this, is because the way the program is structured, you are exploring, learning, laughing with the same 30 or some classmates and instructors every single day! Yes there is plenty of space for solo time, but by the end of the semester, the group that began as strangers has formed into a tight- knit family from shared experiences and this family stays. Four years after the program and I am still keeping in touch with my classmates and faculty that now live all over the world and are continuing to be incredible humans and doing awesome things.
If you are on the fence about which study abroad program to consider, I would like to leave you with this. If you are ready to: dive in with your whole being to a life changing experience, ready to learn more in 4 months than many do in 4 years at other universities, excited to wake up every day and experientially learn through place-based learning, and to be apart of a new family then the CIEE - Tropical Ecology and Conservation program is for you!
Please feel free to contact with questions.
Peace,
Michael