Florence changed my life for the better! Past Review
By Taylor M (Undecided, Colby-Sawyer College) for
AIFS: Florence - Richmond in Florence and Internship Program
Yes! It really was eye opening!
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Tom Kealy was a great professor. I loved how he taught in the city more than in a classroom. This helped engage students and helped us understand more about what we were learning. However, the Italian language professor was alright. She did not really understand english, but that was not my main concern as I got used to the Italian language. My main concern was the way we were graded and taught in the Italian language course. The teacher did not make up our tests and did not even know exactly what it was we were going to be tested on. This resulted in low test scores. Also, we hardly reviewed anything we learned. We would learn something new every single day. This was extremely hard because I had never learnt the Italian language before, therefore it was hard to keep up. We were told just to "memorize" because there was nothing our teacher could do. I highly recommend changing the way this course is taught/graded. This really affected mine, and others, GPAs. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The strength was the AIFS staff the weakness was the italian course |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
It is hard to find food that you will like because it is so different from what we are used to. But this is ok. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
all of the food courses we went to! |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
It is really fun and really safe as long as you have a good head on your shoulders! |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | 100 euro sometimes less sometimes more |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | make sure you really want what you are buying because it adds up quickly |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
Most people spoke english but it was helpful to know a few things. This was learnt by engaging with people, NOT in the classroom. |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
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A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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