Here’s some eggs for your gallo pinto - ¡Buen provecho!” I glance at the time on my phone… 6:15AM. Time to start my day. 

My name is Henry Hartzler and I decided to study abroad in Costa Rica in order to complete my student teaching because my certification is in Elementary Education (K-6) with an added endorsement in English as a Second Language (K-12).

As this is my first blog post, I will tell everyone a little about myself. My name is Quinn Terrill; I’m a senior at the University of Iowa studying Human Physiology and planning on a very epic victory lap after this semester is over.

Studying abroad in college was something I had always wanted to do since I was a very young age and last semester I finally got the opportunity to do so. I wanted to go to a country where I could utilize my Spanish but I did not want to go to Spain. So I spent my fall semester in Heredia, Costa Rica.

Getting off the plane at O’Hare was surreal. Was I really back in Chicago? Costa Rica felt like a dream and I had just suddenly awoken to the brisk winter of the Windy City. To be honest I wasn’t excited to be back, not as excited as I should have been or excited as my friends were. I had found a sense of happiness in Costa Rica that I was scared I would lose the moment I stepped back on to U.S. territory. But as I walked through the airport, I promised myself I would hold on to that happiness and optimism I had gained in Costa Rica and carry it with me wherever I went.