During my study abroad experience, I was exposed to a lot of things that I never had the opportunity to before. The company and cultural visits that we were able to attend were very open about practices, and why they do things the way they do. Compared to US companies. Costa Rica’s business culture puts a much greater emphasis between people in the workplace, and practices that benefit the employees more than the profit. All throughout Costa Rica, people seemed to be much more family oriented, and lived for others rather than for themselves in a culture like America. This showed in every workplace we visited, and could honestly be seen and felt just walking through some of the streets in Costa Rica. Businesses also seemed to have more friendly behavior from one another. Competition is very encouraged in Costa Rica, and many said that they welcome it as it makes them strive to make better products. They care more about quality of their products than quantity, and this striving for better quality seems to be the reason why competition is so welcomed among industries. One of the most important aspects of the whole trip was the fact that we stayed with host families. This was an experience that I have nothing else to compare with in my life, and I encourage anyone doing a study abroad to do one with a host family. Living in a home where everything from customs in the house to the food to the lifestyle was different. I am a picky eater, and I ate every meal that was given to me because of how good they were. The amount of practice using a different language in the house greatly helped me improve my dialect. The lectures were all done by guest speakers from different companies, and the insight they gave us was amazing. Learning about the practices behind the scenes in companies and also word of mouth knowledge from people who have impressive careers is super valuable in my opinion. The combination of the lectures and the exposure with the host family are experiences that I hope to be able to utilize in the future. I think being in a house where I did not know what anyone was saying helped me burst out of my bubble in a weird way, and I feel more comfortable meeting random people. I also learned to be more open to new random experiences. I hope that when I try to start a business one day, I can take some of the work culture from Costa Rica and use it in my business framework. I think that the personal interactions between employees is super important for new businesses.
