An amazing adventure and introduction to vet med! Past Review
By A student (Georgetown Day High School) - abroad from 06/25/2017 to 07/17/2017 with
Broadreach: Costa Rica - Veterinary Medicine College Summer Program
This Broadreach program gave me everything I wanted from it--good friends, Spanish practice, and amazing veterinary experience. It's difficult to gain experience as a high-schooler in the US, but Broadreach gave me a place to learn and practice all the basics in a way that is anything but basic. How many American teenagers can say they've treated a sick sloth and an injured toucan? How many people under 18 have assisted in veterinary surgeries or saved a dog's life? Yes, of course it was worthwhile.
Review Photos
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The academic coursework was interesting and relevant to the hands-on learning we did. The classroom learning could have been more rigorous, but I appreciated the laid-back attitude. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Housing ranged from fancy resort cabins to rustic eco-resorts to small, simple hotel rooms--every accommodation was comfortable. |
| * Food: |
We ate very well. Costa Rican cuisine isn't all that diverse, but despite the frequency with which I ate it, I still love gallo pinto, exotic fresh juices, and beans and rice. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
We worked with many different people who are permanent residents of Costa Rica, allowing us to integrate with the local culture. However, we did keep largely to ourselves outside of volunteer work. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Animals are unpredictable; it is never possible to be completely safe when working with animals, especially wild ones. However, our instructors and the people we worked with managed the risk with caution and care. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
Food was included in the tuition fee, so the spending money I did bring was much more than enough. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
The program only had a foreign language component because I wanted it to. Other students spoke little to no Spanish and were just fine. However, the instructors were very encouraging of those of us who wanted to practice our Spanish, and the people we met in Costa Rica were happy to have translation help. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Advanced |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Fluent |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | AP Spanish Language |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | I wish I knew that I'm interested in pursuing veterinary medicine as a career path. I went in to this experience excited and interested, but not with the highest possible level of thirst for knowledge. |
