Going abroad is intimidating and can come with many challenges… discomfort with the language, trouble making friends, and walking around somewhere where everything feels new, exciting, unknown, or unfamiliar. Although these things are intimidating, you gain a sort of confidence and proudness within yourself when you start to push your boundaries and begin to discover what you are really capable of accomplishing on your own. Just journeying to Costa Rica was a scary accomplishment for me as I was arriving at the airport at 1 or 2am which was well before my program’s local mentors/guides were set to pick me up from the airport. Let me share with you two things I find important: making the most of your time abroad and making friends.

1. * Do as much as you can while you are there!! *

Hands down, the more you do, the more enriching the experience will be. While I was in San José, Costa Rica I spelt almost every weekend except for maybe 2 during my 11 weeks there just traveling to different beautiful and unique parts of the country with friends from my program or classmates. I went to Montezuma waterfall, some waterfalls in Turrialba wandering nature to find them, saw Volcan Irazu (the lazy way via bus), and visited the National Park of Cahuita swimming in some of the most beautiful crystal blue water and encountering some papaya-thieving monkeys on the beach, haha. I also went snorkeling in Panama on one of our program excursions and went white-water rafting which was hands down one of the scariest, yet most fun and happy experiences of my life! Additionally, on weekends in San José rest assured I went on hikes, explored city shops, and clubs with my group or even just went for solo walks around my neighborhood to visit the big local park nearby.

My point is that you should do all the exploring and have all the fun that you can. You have traveled all this way and done a lot of applications and other work to get to where you are so enjoy it! Plus, you never know what might happen… you never know if your trip might get cut short for whatever reason. While your time might not get cut short due to a COVID-19 pandemic, there’s still a possibility that time will simply fly by and escape you. So make sure you are doing everything that you want to do while abroad. Set goals for which places you want to go and what things you want to do, that way you will leave without any unmet wishes.

2. * Put yourself out there to meet new people! *

This leads me to my next point, if you would like to make local friends that are your age or if you simply want to connect with the community take the steps to do so. Use your resources such as your local program guides and the international student office at your host country university to make connections with locals. I know going abroad can feel like a very isolating experience or lonely at times, so for this reason try doing some of the following to meet either new fellow US friends or some new native friends of the country!

Here are some ideas: 

• Take a class with natives.
• Attend university club events.
• Make conversation with your taxi/Uber/Didi driver.
• Become a regular customer at a certain store, barber shop, etc.
• Speak to native students & faculty during school events or come up with small excuses to start a conversation.
• Spend time with your host family.
• Ask your programs guides or the university’s international student office to connect you with potential internship or more likely community volunteer opportunities.
• Use dating apps (safely and responsibly): can be a great way to meet people even just to make friends

These are my tips and little pieces of advice for students who are soon going to study-abroad or do an internship abroad. Have fun! Cross some stuff off your bucket list and do not be afraid to take chances and get a bit out of your comfort zone! Here are some photos from my time abroad! Hopefully it inspires you to do some adventuring as well! Stay safe! :)

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