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Money and Happiness in Costa Rica

The ACE 243 students in Costa Rica.

I expected the faculty-led study abroad program ACE 243 - Money and Happiness in Costa Rica to be a mix of travel and class content about well-being. What I didn’t expect was how quickly the ideas moved from “things we talk about in a classroom” to “things I could actually feel and see in daily life.” Across ten days, the program gave me a real-world look at how culture, community systems, nature, and personal habits all shape happiness,