Costa Rica: Intro to Pre-Med and Public Health

I cannot begin to express how much fun I had in Costa Rica. As soon as we arrived, the group of students automatically clicked, and friendships only grew stronger as the trip progressed. Even though our trip was changed from Nicaragua to Costa Rica relatively last minute, we still were able to work in multiple clinics and get real insight into the healthcare system in Costa Rica. During the homestay portion of the trip, it was amazing to enter into a rural community, and interact with the people our service efforts would actually be affecting. After living with our homestay families for 5 nights, saying goodbye was extremely difficult. Even a month later, I still miss my homestay family, along with other residents of the community that we grew close to. Going into the trip, though I was not 100% fluent in Spanish, the trip leaders and other students made active communication with community members and the clinic staff easy. Over the trip, I made many lasting friendships and came home with a greatly improved ability to speak and understand Spanish.