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I came to learn what I didn’t know, but instead, I unlearned what I thought I already knew. I’m not sure how I feel about Fruit Loops or Mario Kart anymore. When I think about the things I’ve learned throughout these past two to three weeks, I recall some thoughts about how maybe how nature… Read more »

At The Divide: Where Worlds Collide Time and tide wait for no man.  The final group hike was to the continental divide, where the gale force winds of the Caribbean side meet the calm and collected Pacific side. Like the flow of the trade winds that explain this near enigma, there is so much more… Read more »

The third leg of our tropical journey began at the Cloud Forest in Monteverde. Just from stepping out of the bus, I could tell that we were not in Kansas anymore (a.k.a. the lowland rainforest). The cool breeze swept me away, and I was actually chilly for the first time on this trip. We had… Read more »

How Costa Rica Sets Standards: During our time in Costa Rica, I was surprised the whole time on how they set different standards on sustainability and conservation. From air drying clothes when they had dryers, to set timers on the water faucets. The first day to the last, sustainability measures were set in place such… Read more »

I write this as our time in Costa Rica has come to an end. From the beginning, I took this course to get my second Hutton Honors class credit. The timeline of this course fits best with my summer schedule. I could have never imagined I would learn so much about myself and the world… Read more »

Coming back home has been a strange feeling. These past three weeks went by so quickly that it hardly feels like the trip is truly over. One thing I will always carry with me from Costa Rica is the importance of being present in the moment. That lesson found its way to me again and… Read more »

Our short time in Costa Rica taught me so many lessons that I will take home and cherish. A lot of these lessons occurred at face value when learning about sustainability, the environment, or the cultures, but some took their time to marinate in a new experience until they came to fruition. These lessons will… Read more »

Three weeks gone in the blink of an eye! I cannot believe that this trip is already over, as it feels like just yesterday I got the email confirming my place on the 2025 Planetary health and Climate Change in Costa Rica Hutton Honors study abroad course. The only way I can describe my time… Read more »

If I’m being honest, the start of this week didn’t exactly scream “peace and relaxation.” We spent a few days at a coffee farm, and while the scenery was beautiful and the people even more so, whewww it was work. We painted benches that now look like they belong in an art museum (okay, maybe… Read more »

The last week of my time here in Costa Rica could be separated into two distinct sections. First, following simple, humble practices with my host family, and second, learning that sustainability doesn’t always have to be followed by discomfort. The time spent with my host family was special and definitely tested my patience. Met with… Read more »

Costa Rica might be a small country, but somehow it feels as big as the whole U.S. with how much it teaches you. In such a short time, it shared so much knowledge, culture, and heart leaving a lasting impact on me, hoping it will be carried into America with me like a souvenir. I… Read more »

Our third week in Costa Rica came as soon as it left, and now, as I sit in the airport and type out this blog, about to board my flight back to the United States, I reminisce on what an incredible and life changing three weeks this has been. I have truly never felt as… Read more »

At the crest of the Continental Divide in Monteverde, I stood between two worlds. On one side, the Pacific Ocean. On the other, the Caribbean Sea. The mist was so thick we couldn’t see either, but that didn’t matter. The moment still carried weight. The divide wasn’t just physical—it was symbolic. This week felt like straddling… Read more »

As this program comes to a close, I find myself holding onto an immense new respect for nature. It is one that stretches beyond admiration into something closer to the sublime. I came to Costa Rica expecting beauty, biodiversity, and maybe a few bug bites. What I didn’t expect was how deeply this place would… Read more »

Sweet Beginnings: Pineapples, Family, and Sustainability Hola! To kick off week two in Costa Rica, we began with a local organic pineapple tour. It was laid out like a hayride, with a tractor pulling our group throughout the farm. I learned that the farm, like other organic farms, omits pesticide use by planting pineapples through… Read more »

If you’ve been keeping up with my last blog, you know that I’ve had something like the opposite of an existential crisis: the likes of gratitude and the kind of new perspective that you get when you try a tropical fruit that you’ve never tasted before. Pure joy, for all that lives and exists around… Read more »

Wow, what a week it’s been! It’s hard to believe we are already onto our second blog of just three for this class. This unit we are finishing, Social-Ecological Systems, has been eye opening to me in a multitude of ways, as I have seen the processes Costa Rica has utilized to bring together tourism,… Read more »

I have always been interested in maps. Dots are on a piece of paper with lines between them that connect each other and make the world what we know it as. I am the nerd who opens Apple Maps to look at highway routes and what cities go through. In grade school, I spent rainy… Read more »

I would describe my time here in Costa Rica as a mosaic of sensory experiences. Early on, I realized that I have primarily relied on my sense of sight so far on this trip, as well as when I’m back home. I cannot completely blame myself for this – people are very visual creatures, and… Read more »

Believe it or not, there’s likely more to being human than reaching consciousness. While living an easy, conscious life might be appealing, humans are inherently driven to be ambitious, connected, and engaged in their communities. That drive often gives our lives deeper purpose and fulfillment. Just to keep you updated – in my last blog… Read more »

Sustainability in practice: Living in Costa Rica has shown me how other cultures focus on sustainability and protecting the environment. Visiting the pineapple farm and banana farm has shown me how farming can be done in a less destructive way, compared to the United States. The Pineapple farm was HUGE, they were a monocrop farm… Read more »

It feels like everything is going so fast now. I look back at the last days and everything just somewhat blurs together. It reminds me of one of the last days my team was collecting data at La Selva. It had been raining so I took off my glasses to clean them. The sun was… Read more »

To begin our unit on diet sustainability, we visited pineapple farm, which might have been my favorite excursion of the trip. I have never been a big fan of pineapple… or any tropical fruit, really. Hence, I was not expecting to enjoy eating and numbing my tongue (they have protein-eating enzymes) from an entire pineapple… Read more »

At this point in the trip, I smell unmistakably like a peccary and resemble a rain-soaked three-toed sloth (the grayer and more dirtier looking ones). We’re two thirds of the way through our Costa Rican adventure, and I’m honestly not sure how that happened. Time moves differently out here. One moment you’re stepping off the… Read more »

“The most important truths aren’t always measurable. They’re felt—in the air, in the shared work, in the quiet recognition that everything is part of something else.” When we talk about ecosystems, we often describe them in diagrams—boxes and arrows, inputs and outputs, predators and prey. But living inside one, as we’ve done these past two… Read more »

My last blog entry was centered around reconnecting with my inner child. With my time at La Selva I was able to foster my passion and wonder for wildlife. Now entering unit two of our course, food systems, my wonder has expanded to reach new places outside of just La Selva. This began with our… Read more »

Now that I have had a little space from that first week, I can say this trip has shifted my entire internal thought process. It started out as a kind of survival mission. I was drenched in sweat, covered in bug bites, and dragging myself through the rainforest, but somewhere between getting totally muddy during… Read more »

It has been two weeks since we arrived in Costa Rica, and this past week has been extremely eventful and filled with eye-opening experiences. In between finishing up our data collection, we visited two farms near La Selva— an organic pineapple farm and a small-scale, sustainable banana farm. Leaving the rainforest and seeing people other… Read more »

Day one quickly turned into day eleven in my journal, and it all happened within the blink of an eye. I quickly fell into a routine in La Selva, almost as if I had been there for months, so when it was finally time to adventure 30 minutes away from La Selva, I found that… Read more »