Summer 2022 Participant
For me, the most rewarding element is that I left my comfort zone and traveled to another country even though we, as Americans, are fed stories about how unsafe and scary other countries are. I got to see firsthand that other places may not be as bad as our information sources portray.
Summer 2025 Participant
What I have learned is that you should be open to new experiences
Summer 2023 Participant
I found learning about the history of Costa Rica to be the most rewarding. Seeing how similar the US and Costa Rica are, with similar political issues like immigration, a wave of conservatism, and the mistreatment of Indigenous peoples, made me realize these issues are global. I can see myself having a longer study abroad experience there, to learn more about the people there.
I also found the group project we did with some of the students from the University of Costa Rica and KU to be very enlightening. Seeing and working with people of a similar background like mine was awesome. And it was cool to see them in person after first meeting on zoom!