Would Totally Recommend!

From someone who had never traveled alone, it was my one goal in college to travel abroad at least once. When choosing a destination, I was only focused on being somewhat close to a beach, and being surrounded by nature. I am so grateful that I picked Monteverde, Costa Rica for my destination. During my stay, I was completely immersed in the beautiful biodiversity of the country, and always felt safe. This location is special because the housing is on campus, food is provided as well as cleaning and laundry. There is truly nothing to complain about. I stayed for a total of 18 weeks and never had any problems with the program! I was able to visit the beach multiple times, one paid excursion and one special trip I took with friends! I was constantly learning about relevant topics such as climate change and agriculture. My favorite class was Global Change and the Environment, taught by Mariano Soley. This class gave me so much important knowledge about current topics and learning skills that will truly last me a lifetime. I also got to participate in a weekend - long homestay and a service learning project. The homestay was completely immersive and a good experience - although it was very different from life on campus as that is a little more secluded from the culture of the country. It wasn't my favorite experience because I don't think I was very prepared to be in a completely immersive situation. The service learning project was such a good opportunity to help the local community while gaining helpful and relevant skills. I worked with a local bio reserve and helped them by painting signs for their property, helping in the tree nursery, and even conducted measurements of the trees on the property for their progress reports. I loved my time there and it helped me put new skills on my resume as well! There were also multiple paid excursions that I was so grateful to go on!

Overall, this program allowed me to be more confident, traveled and experienced! I would recommend this to anyone who loves nature, and wants to experience a smaller - knit community.