Costa Rica: Heredia - Spanish Language, Ecological, and Latin American Studies

Download a ton of music on to your phone. You will be on 3 to 4-hour bus rides every time you want to visit somewhere. Music will make the trip amazing. Also, do not get rid of your Spotify account before you come, You cant get a membership started in Costa Rica, But you can have one. Bring a knife, you will feel safer. bring great sandals and shoes, you will walk a lot. Bring a smaller travel backpack, you will use it a ton.

Wake up to a meal made by a Costa Rican family. I had a good family so, I would wake up to a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice, some fruit, a pastry, and a thermos of hot tea. would head to school usually with a packed lunch and take Spanish classes all day and during the afternoon a science class. would get home and usually go out. On weekend I would head to a beach in Costa Rica and have an amazing time.

The only real fear that I had going into Costa Rica was that it would not change me. I was very worried about going into the country for a year and not growing as a person. While in Puntarenas I realized that I could only grow if I wanted to grow and put in the effort to do it. So I decided to switch to a more intense program with less of a party scene. I cut back on my bad habits and surrounded myself with good people. Came to the end of the year and realized that I am whoever I want to be, If I want to be a great person, Then I can be one I just have to stop getting in my own way.

I would have been more careful with what I ate, I got a pretty bad sickness and lost almost 30 pounds when I had no fat to lose. I would also be less patient with my host families, My first family was not great but I was too afraid/unaware to realize they were not good. We fought constantly and she refused to give me a normal amount of food. I did not think this was bad until I go to my second family, and within a week I felt like I was a member of the family. I can barely believe I put up with my first family now knowing how big of a difference a good family can make.

I’ve learned so much since my first day at USAC, but I think one of my most significant areas of growth is in confidence. Despite the strides I’d made studying abroad in France, I came to USAC as a shy Peer Advisor, ready to share my experience with fellow students but still a bit nervous and unsure.

Since then, all that I’ve been trained and trusted to accomplish along with the patience and support of the organization have made me decisive and unafraid. USAC has proven to me that I’m capable of great things.

Some of my favorite stories from abroad are love stories — romance that blossomed on a USAC program. We actually did a blog post at the USAC blog on that topic for Valentine’s Day 2017. The stories and photos are total tearjerkers — in a good way!

This is like picking a favorite book or movie – so many good ones, so little time! But still, if I were forced to choose, I could see myself going to Chengdu, China.

I advised for China for a while, and I was fortunate enough to get to visit the program site. A week and a half there convinced me that I was ready for the beauty and challenge of life in China. The language, the food, the people, the courses — everything about the program seems like an exciting adventure. Plus, it was completely different from the European places I’d studied before. Sign me up!

USAC is special because we really do put the concerns of the student first. We’re a not-for-profit; we choose non-traditional locations with more cultural immersion in mind; we have a “USAC family” of experienced, caring on-site staff on each of our specialty programs.

I was especially proud of my department last year when we processed nearly 750 visa applications at no additional cost to our students. It might sound like a small detail, but the pre-departure stressors like visas can be one of the lowest points of the study abroad process. Making every little thing better for our students is one of our proudest accomplishments.

The heart! I think no matter how great the business practice, if your core ideals aren’t built on solid foundations of integrity, truth, and good intentions, you’re sabotaging your idea from the start. Stay true to those beliefs and you can’t go wrong.