{"id":56584,"date":"2026-09-03T20:33:31","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T20:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/college-recovery-program\/?page_id=56584"},"modified":"2026-09-03T20:40:37","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T20:40:37","slug":"studying-abroad","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/college-recovery-program\/stepup-program-student-stories-and-voices\/student-blog\/studying-abroad\/","title":{"rendered":"Studying Abroad"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"September<\/div>

Welcome to the September edition of our blog!!<\/h3>\n
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Our monthly blog is a student-run platform that allows different scholars within the StepUP program to share their personal experiences with the greater community. Everything written, designed and curated was by StepUP students! Delivered straight to your inbox every first week of the month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>

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Event updates.<\/h2>\n

We always do a ton of fun events at the end of the summer because of the influx of new StepUP students we get for the year. We do orientation together and some kind of fun team building activities. This year was especially awesome thanks to our student leader Ben who came up with the idea of doing PAINTBALL!! So fun!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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PAINTBALL!!<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Escape rooms!<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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BLOG BY ELIZABETH:<\/h2>\n

STUDYING ABROAD<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Written August 2026. Photo taken by Ben G. of Elizabeth at the top of Iraz\u00fa Volcano.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Hey guys, it\u2019s me again Elizabeth. Today, I wanted to share a little bit about studying abroad.<\/p>\n

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In the spring semester of 2026, I travelled to Costa Rica for 10 days with some others and a professor from the bio department as part of a biology course focusing on birds, conservation, sustainability and biodiversity. Costa Rica is one of the most biodiverse places on the planet and is known for having a large and unique bird population. It was definitely one of the most incredible, challenging, beautiful, scary and rewarding experiences of my entire life.<\/p>\n

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Augsburg offers lots of study abroad courses every semester, ranging from short term to semester long. I signed up for the study abroad program in October of 2025, with a ton of help from everyone around me to convince me to actually do it. I think initially why I was so scared was because of the cost, and because I have never been outside of the country before, and I was terrified that my first time would be with my school and peers who I didn\u2019t know at all. I was also worried about potentially being isolated from my recovery community back home. What if some of the students want to go out one night? What if I feel triggered? After about a month of going back and forth I finally decided to fully commit because a few of my professors told me that this really would be a once in a lifetime trip for me. As a biology major who wants to get into the field of conservation, doing this would be an experience I would never be able to get by just doing classes or labs. I began to feel more comfortable in my recovery too, I had a plan and I felt confident about what I would do if I was put in a situation with alcohol as well. In preparation, we learned as much as we could about birds and about Costa Rican culture for the few months we had before the trip, and then the day finally came.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The plane rides there were all a blur, and once we got there, it was off to the races. Every single day, we were learning, working and exploring this new country. We did lots of binocular and photography work, recording and researching birds there. We met many locals and talked to many different people and organizations about how Costa Rica handles conservation and sustainability. We learned so much about the Pura Vida culture (and ATE SO MUCH good food)! The experience was irreplaceable. Being there, actually going into the jungles and birding was unlike any other classwork I\u2019ve ever done. Being fully immersed in the culture (we stayed with host families in the mountains for a couple nights) was also so amazing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Besides the country itself, I made SO MANY new friends who were studying abroad as well, which was an amazing gift. We had a lot of fun sharing meals, swimming, birding, and so much more. Dare I say it is super easy to become close friends with people you are forced to be with for 10 days straight. There were a few times when people did go out to experience the night life, but I was amazed at how respectful and kind everyone was about it, and how much I wasn\u2019t affected by it at all.<\/p>\n

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Coming out of it, I\u2019ve gained so much and grown tenfold as a person because of this trip. It pushed me out of my comfort zone. It challenged me in so many ways. It opened my eyes to a new perspective and showed me how other people live in a different part of the world. I\u2019ve gained 10+ new friends. I tried to be as present as possible. I saw some BEAUTIFUL sights, like the sunset over the Pacific Ocean on the beach in Quepos. Or the top of the clouds at Iraz\u00fa Volcano National Park. And of course, some AWESOME wildlife, like the endemic Resplendent Quetzal (we woke up at 4am to catch it leaving its nest), a huge Yellow-throated Toucan, some Scarlet Macaws, a few White-faced Capuchin monkeys, Poison-dart Frogs, a couple of crocodiles and SO MUCH MORE! We most definitely don\u2019t have this kind of wildlife in Minnesota\u2026 so it really is a once in a lifetime experience.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Would I do it again? 1000%. Would I suggest anybody else who can go and study abroad? 1000%. Honestly, we were so jam packed and busy that I hardly had time to think about being scared. And the guides and professor made it a point to make sure every single student was as comfortable as possible. I never felt alone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Alright, I don\u2019t know how many other ways I can say that it was absolutely incredible. Overall, I guess the main thing to take away from my blog is that sometimes, taking risks is a really good thing. If it works with your major and the timeline you have, everybody should seriously consider studying abroad while at university. It's a super unique experience that I don\u2019t think people could really get by just taking a vacation somewhere. Be prepared, have a supportive network and have a plan. But of course, have fun and enjoy it. Also Costa Rica rocks and I highly suggest people visit the country. Amazing. Okay I\u2019m done now, see you!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>

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NEW SEGMENT: STEPUP FILM REVIEWS<\/em><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Review of Pride and<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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Prejudice (2005) by Ritu<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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I just watched this for the first time ever this summer. When I tell you that Mr. Darcy was just a yearning contemporary man who had no rizz, and because he was shy he was moving in silence. But then he ends up overcoming his ego and accepting the fear in his mortality and human feelings to secure the bag???? Meanwhile Elizabeth is the wittiest woman there ever was and just had some hearsay mess up her perceptions, and because she would move heaven and earth for her sisters she was so immersed in being loyal to her family and her ideals that it blinded her to the underground sentimentality of Mr. Darcy. Then she finally realizes big man was riding for her the whole time behind the scenes and is moved to finally understand that love is action and love was actively being loud in the quietest way????<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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So basically both these sassy divas finally realized their anger and judgement was simply misconstrued by the fallacy of their social reality??? The attention was love, the compassion was love, the forgiveness was love, the apologies were love, the sacrifices were love, the silence was love, the admiration was love, the honestly was love.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Love was so simple yet so complicated??<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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As it regularly is???<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Yeah one of the romance greats I guess.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He kinda ugly though.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Thank you everyone for reading the September edition of our blog!!! Thank you to Ritu for your review and everyone else for your contributions \ud83d\ude42 See you next month!!<\/p>\n

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