CMU Worldwide


costarica3
Dewitt senior Taylar Miller slides down a

For Rebecca Vander Sluis and Taylar Miller, the 2014 spring semester was anything but ordinary.

Vander Sluis and Miller studied abroad in Costa Rica during the spring 2014 semester at Central Michigan University. They were two of six students on the trip.

The class visited several several parts of the country, including San Jose, Universidad Veritas, Jaco, Montezuma/Santa Teresa, Monteverde, Puerto Viejo, Manuel Antonio and Playa Uvita.

Vander Sluis described the classes as they took in these locals as "very hands-on.” All the fruits and vegetables they ate came from the garden they worked on, she said. 

“We all worked and lived on a farm,” she said. “We got to cook breakfast from the methane that is produced from the pig’s skin.”

They also went to Indian reservations and worked at a wildlife refuge, focused on sea turtle conservation.

“These were all part of my classes that I took there, but they were all hands-on field trips that we got to go on,” Vander Sluis said.

She chose Costa Rica, Vander Sluis said, because it’s warm, pretty and they had programs in alternative medicine, which worked well for her since she is a dietetics major. She also said the trip was financially doable.

Miller said she liked that Costa Rica’s health care systems were built around preventative care.

“On their farm, they grew natural herbs that they used for medicine,” she said. “They’re really into homeopathy there.”

Her favorite class in Costa Rica, Miller said, was acupuncture.

The two students lived with the same host family while in Costa Rica. Their hosts spoke little English, but their 11-year-old daughter was learning at a local English-speaking school.

Dining with their host family each night, Vander Sluis and Miller couldn't help but rave about the food. 

“The food is just out of the world," Vander Sluis said. "We would go and make fresh guacamole every day. We would go to the market. You can buy bananas. You can get like 30 for less than a dollar. Coconuts are all over the place.”

But food was secondary to the global perspective the students took from their time in Costa Rica

Miller said she wanted to study abroad since her freshman year. Miller and Vander Sluis wanted to go somewhere they could study nutrition and also get away from the cold Michigan winter.

Vander Sluis said the trip took her out of her comfort zone, but she was thankful for the opportunity to study abroad.

“It’s definitely one of the best experiences and the places that I’ve grown a lot in my life and it was definitely a leap of faith to go out there,” she said. "It was a great experience and I’m so glad I’ve done it. And I want everybody else to have an experience like that.

"Challenge yourself."

For more information on study abroad opportunities, visit the Office of Study Abroad in Ronan Hall 330.

Share: