Chelsea Scott

Overall Experience
5/5

Major
Spanish, Communication Studies

Hobbies
Anything that requires a helmet.

Hometown
St. Louis

Where did you study?
Costa Rica

Name of program
ISA Intensive Spanish Language Month

Why did you choose to study there?
It was the cheapest, but I also heard that Spanish in Costa Rica was pretty easy to understand dialect for a first-time immersion student.

What courses did you choose to enroll in?
Advanced Conversation

How did you pay for your study abroad experience?
My own money

Did you use some sort of financial aid, scholarship or fellowship?
No.

What was your living situation?
Host home that had five exchange students in it.

What did you do for fun?
We took dancing classes and went downtown. There were a bunch of museums that we visited and also we all just hung out at Veritas University and did our homework together.

Favorite aspect of your trip?
The excursions every weekend. And the topics that we covered in my conversation course.

Challenges you faced?
I had my back pack stolen. Other than that, I was challenged with balancing my homework (since it was an intense month program) and exploring.

Advice or helpful tips for future students?
Do it. Just go! There's nothing better than hearing people's opinions from a different country. It really changes your views.

What is one thing (if anything) that you would change about your experience if you could do it over?
I would make it longer.

Funny or memorable story?
One weekend I convinced a few friends of mine to simply buy bus tickets to Monte Verde but not plan anything else. We completely winged the whole weekend trip and it was possibly the best time of my life.

Something interesting you learned about the town you lived in?
They have no military in Costa Rica.