Best Decision I Made During College Career and Life Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The workload was perfect for a me. I wanted to travel and I was never so overloaded with work that I couldn't go away one weekend or another. It is still school so I did have work, but professors worked with you and wanted you to travel as much as possible and take advantage of being in another country and experience as much as you could while in that country. Professors used powerpoint presentations. They provided all the reading work at the beginning of the semester in a booklet that you just bought right there, so no books were involved. It was only the readings that you had to read as well so there was no unnecessary spending. All my professors spoke english as well and were all very interesting in there own ways. I loved all my professors.

On-site administration of your program

The faculty at AIFS in Florence was amazing. They wanted to know about your trips, where you were going what you were doing, who you were meeting. They cared about our experience almost as much as we did and they wanted us to have the best time possible. They helped us when we needed there italian to talk to landlords, etc. If we needed medical attention they would go with us and help us speak to italian doctors if the english speaking doctor wasn't available. The program was 165 students. I thought it was perfect. I found my group of friends and we made connections and I know what will be life-long friendships. They knew that things in Italy were alot different than America and they tried for the most part to make it all Italian experiences, which some people didn't like very much. For me though, I wanted an Italian experience though, and I absolutely loved it.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

We were in an apartment that was a 5 min walk from school. Everything was provided; sheets, cooking utensils, closet, couches, sometimes books, pens, pencils, dictionaries and books from classes from previous students. We just bought our toiletries, towels, food toilet paper, things required for living. We were right off the Ponte Vecchio and at least a 10 min walk from everything; clubs restaurants nightlife, museums and a 15 min walk from the train station. It was perfect.

We had mostly meals on our own. We had restaurant coupons, a certain amount for the month. We also had grocery store cards it was 12 euro per card. We did a mixture of eating out and eating at the apartment. We would make family meals, friends would come over and we would all cook together and drink wine, it was so fun. We had group meals as well, and those were always delicious and fun. At the end of the semester there was a dinner party where we all dressed up and ate a nice big fancy dinner.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

The day trips to other cities by bus were my favorite with the program. They fed us and I got to see and learn so much more.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I never felt particularly unsafe, but you do have to be careful of pitpocketers and the gypsys they will steal your stuff. I never had a problem though, I always watched my purse and the things in my purse like my wallet and phone. Alot of people did get there phone's stolen but they weren't careful and weren't watching when they were in the clubs at night. I went to the clubs though and never had a problem. You just have to be aware of your surroundings. Don't get so drunk that you can't take care of yourself. You are in another country things work differently, people act differently. Be smart.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

We had language class 3 times a week durning the semester for an hour and a half each. During that time I didn't really feel like I gained anything. During the 2 week orientation however I learned so much and that was the basis of all the rest of my learning. I do feel that I learned more in the first two weeks that I did for the rest of the 3 and 1/2 months I was there. We were completely immersed in the language during orientation. We practiced speaking with each other and with the professor who only spoke Italian. During the rest of the semester we never practiced with one another and the professor spoke a little english but she just through random words around there was never really any organization to it.

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• Americans