WEA Student Perspectives

For our final blog post, some of the WEA students share their favorite memories from the program, advice for future students, and their favorite photos!

Lucy: My favorite memories from the program are planting trees with everyone and seeing how much we all actually care about sustainability in the first couple days here, ziplining with Bella and getting to see the amazing views, and going to Las Lluvias since that whole place was just so gorgeous and inspiring! I’d tell future students to BRING HIKING BOOTS and MORE SOCKS THAN YOU THINK YOU NEED. Also, really take the time to enjoy the mornings here; they’re just so beautiful and the birds make me really happy. 

Kristina: I really enjoyed experiencing horseback riding! It was my favorite thing out of everything we did. My advice to future students is to be prepared with clothing and packing and always be safe!

Gauri: I really liked hiking around and seeing the waterfalls! It was tiring but really fun, and the lunch at the end was great. For future students, my advice would be to bring hiking shoes and put yourself out there! Everything is really fun and people are really nice :)

Jenna: For me, there were two memories that were my favorites. One was going on the hike with all the waterfalls. Even though it was very physically straining, being able to see all the waterfalls and views was incredible. My second favorite memory was sitting on the porch outside of my room, feeling the warm sun hit my face, listening to the birds, and looking at the trees. My advice for future students is to make sure to bring plenty of socks and definitely bring your computer.

Umoyae: It’s incredibly hard for me to pick just one. Honestly, my overall favorite memories were just all the times I spent quality time with my friends and peers over these last 3 weeks. And all of our bonding experiences, from doing acrobatic yoga, to duo zip lining, to laying out in the hammock and listening to music together,  and watching horror movies in the rec room with the lights off!  My advice to future students is to invest in multiple pairs of quick dry pants or waterproof pants because you may think you’ll barely use them but trust me you will use and need them frequently.

Zoey: My favorite memory was visiting Finca Lluvia de Gloria. I loved seeing how passionate Hermida was about her farm and all the knowledge she had on every single plant we saw. I also really enjoyed trying all the different plants and learning about their benefits.  Lastly, Hermida reminded me a lot of my grandma so it was really nice to hear about her story and how she started from zero.

Bella: It is so hard to choose a favorite memory from the program, but if I had to pick one, I would say that my favorite was when we went ziplining over the cloud forest at Selvatura Adventure Park! It was amazing to be able to see all of the natural beauty from so high up, and I loved ziplining with my sister! I also just have to add that I absolutely loved seeing the beautiful view of the mountains from the restaurant after we went on the really long hike and did horseback riding! And seeing a sloth was also a highlight! One piece of advice that I would give to future students is to make sure that you bring hiking boots! I was not prepared and I didn’t bring them so I’ve been hiking on some slippery slopes with either the rubber boots that they had here or my sneakers. I am so sad to be leaving Costa Rica in a few days so I will definitely try to make the most of the rest of this awesome experience!