Past Review

By michelle s (Geography and Cartography., Clark University) for

The School for Field Studies / SFS: Costa Rica – Ecological Resilience Studies

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?

Yes, it was a lot different from what I had expected initially and from what I understood the program to be from the description. I gained a better knowledge and comfort of speaking the Spanish language. I gained a better perception of local knowledge and culture. I gained field experience and experience doing research adn writing research papers.

Personal Information

If you took classes at multiple universities, list those universities here:	Clark University
How much international exposure did you have prior to this program?	1 month - 6 months
The term and year this program took place:	Spring 2010

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.	The course material is highly specific to Costa Rica. While relevant to field work and the broader base of material and action on sustainable development it offers little insight to sustainable elsewhere (aside from small considerations of Nicaragua). Overall the material was interesting and furthered my education. The program is very structured.
* Host Country Program Administration On-site administration of your program	Delayed responses to students requests, poor job of explaining the rigor of the condensed coursework and amount of in class time.
* Housing: How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?	Students live in dorm-style housing at the center and stay at hostels/hotels or camp when doing field work (depending on the nature of the work).
* Food:	3 large meals a day. It's great food, delicious. However, only having options 3x a day is difficult many times and being a vegetarian or having dietary restrictions can be problematic.
* Social & Cultural Integration: How integrated did you feel with the local culture?	When we have free time the experiences with the culture is good. However, at the center there is little exposure to the culture in context.
* Health Care: How well were health issues addressed during the program?
* Safety:	Health care systems are different in any foreign country and not as adequate or of the same quality at those in the U.S. Even if addressed initially issues were often problematic for individuals and the group as a whole (virus' spreading). Atenas is safe and a great place to interact with the community.
If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program?	Yes

Finances

* 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)

Language

If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition?
Language acquisition improvement?	Need more instruction throughout the semester, not just at the beginning. Spanish knowledge is helpful around the center to communicate with supporting staff and needed to communicate with many members of the community and to ease traveling.

Other Program Information

* Where did you live? Select all that apply	Dorm Hostel
* Who did you live with? Select all that apply	International Students Americans

A Look Back

* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program?	I didn't have any interaction with Clark really while here. It's a travelers budget that mainly is draining. Drinking and eating costs add up quickly and adventure activities like rafting, zip-lining, bungee jumping can make experience costly.

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:	Environmental Economics
Course Department:
Instructor:	Sergio Molina
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:
Credit Transfer Issues:

Course Name/Rating:	Tropical Ecology
Course Department:
Instructor:	Edgardo
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	Challenging for me as a socially geared student. Good use of field lectures to support in-class lectures and research projects. No formal labs made applying concepts more difficult, despite the field work. Very knowledgeable and helpful in guiding and answering students questions. Participation was equal to that of a home institution lecture. More approachable than home faculty.
Credit Transfer Issues:

Course Name/Rating:	Natural Resource Managment
Course Department:
Instructor:
Instruction Language:
Comments:
Credit Transfer Issues:

Course Name/Rating:	Directed Research
Course Department:
Instructor:	Sergio Molina
Instruction Language:	English/Spanish
Comments:	Challenging as mine incorporated speaking Spanish. Excellent use of field work and hands-on experience in conjunction with literature reviews blending theory and practice. Professor was flexible and helpful in all aspects of research and analysis- very available. More participation was required for the students to be engaged and understand the nature of research. Varies from semester to semester and within semesters as students work with different faculty members depending on their interests and on-going faculty research. Students have the opportunity to engage in formulating, researching and collecting data, analyzing and preparing a formal presentation and report on their research/interests.
Credit Transfer Issues: