New smells, new tastes, new cultures, this is what Costa Rica brought to seven Mooresville high school students this past summer. Spanish teacher Tamara Mills embarked on this journey as their advisor for the trip. They went for a total of nine exciting days, with two travel and the others spent in Costa Rica.
They did many different activities, from ziplining to snorkeling and many more activities. Not only did Mooresville students embark on this journey, but students from Texas also were there. This was an opportunity for both groups to connect over this shared experience.
This trip was taken by seven students and one parent came a long to supervise. One of the students that took part is senior Zackariah Allen. He enjoyed his time greatly, getting to try new food became one of his favorite aspects, along with making new friends from this experience.
“The food was really good everyday,” Allen said.
Along with the meals, Allen also enjoyed the nature walks that they took. He really loved taking in all the beauty that Costa Rica had to offer. Along with the trails, they had monkeys right by their cabin at night while they slept, which was way different than what it is like at home.
“The nature life was really pretty and there’s nothing like it,” Allen said.
Junior Peyton Nedelsky was a little bit hesitant with this trip to begin with, but soon she completely enjoyed herself. She had never been out of the country before this experience, so of course she was a little bit nervous. Along with that, the students that took the trip together did not fully know each other until this point and found themselves in another country together.
To get to know one another, the students played lots of games together, to break the ice. Along with Allen, Nedelsky enjoyed the nature hikes, to connect with others and nature.
“It was fun meeting and becoming friends with people from other states along with the people from Mooresville and helped to show differences,” Nedelsky said.
This was one of the major trips that Mills has taken with her students, but not her last. She plans on taking another trip to Spain in the summer of 2026. She gives the advice of any student that plans to attend this trip, to keep an open mind because new cultures can be fun and make you learn a lot.
“I LOVE doing student travel to other countries and showing students the world beyond Indiana. I love showing the culture and language and history of the place to where we are traveling. I’m looking forward to Spain and love it, but will admit Costa Rica has my heart, ” Mills said.
