Although sophomore Dylan Fulcher-Melendy didn’t sign up to go to Costa Rica, she had a blast. Signing up for the trip was a Christmas present from her parents, and the trip, led by history teacher Michael Doubleday and science teacher Amber Rogers, was one she’ll never forget.

“It was an adventure in which I became closer with my peers and more in touch with nature as I took time away from technology to just be in the moment,” she told The Willistonian.

The trip, which left  March 5 and returned to Williston March 12, was filled with a packed itinerary. Trip leader Michael Doubleday said some of the highlights of the trip were traveling to San Juan, hiking in Arenal National Park at the base of active volcano Mount Arenal, and taking surfing lessons.

There were multiple factors that prompted Doubleday to choose Costa Rica.

“I really enjoy traveling and exploring the world,” he said. “I believe that travel is an extremely rewarding experience and can be a valuable education for myself and for students.”

Doubleday also began teaching a Latin American History elective at Williston but had never traveled to any Latin American countries, so he thought that leading a trip “would be a good opportunity to get to travel to a region of the world that I am teaching about in my class.”

The trip was rewarding for Doubleday; he “learned a lot about Costa Rica during the trip but also got to witness and participate in the students’ experience as well. As a teacher, that is very rewarding.”

Katie Borden ’20 went on the trip, and said it was one of the “better decisions” that she had made.

“The overall experience made me really happy that I had chosen to go in the first place,” she said. “There were people on the trip that I wouldn’t usually talk to that I became really close with really quickly. I think I gained a lot from it.”

Katie’s favorite part of the trip was visiting a local school.

“We visited a small school and seeing the little kids and how genuinely happy they were was really inspiring. The simplistic lifestyle that the majority of the locals had there was also really eye-opening,” Katie said. “That will be something I know I will remember forever.”

Sophomore Nikki Foster agreed.

“I was nervous I wouldn’t be able to have fun with the kids since we didn’t speak the same language, but it was actually the opposite,” she said. “Although I didn’t speak their language, we were still able to have so much fun and do activities outside. That experience taught me that language isn’t a boundary or a separation to having fun.”