Italy Opened My Eyes Past Review
By Nicole B (Busn Admin/ Classics, Trinity University) for
AIRC: Rome - Interdisciplinary Semester in Italy
I really learned how to take care of myself, manage money, and trust and believe in myself to make the right decisions. I really felt like an adult and I've continued to use those lessons right now!
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Once again the work load was substantial, but there were enough grades that something wasn't weighed too heavily. The program is run by American PHD classics professors. They know an incredibal amount of information about classics. I learned a lot studying with them. They were accessible 24/7 which was very nice and they were always helpful. So, while the work was probably more than most study abroad students expect or want, if you love classics this is the program for you. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
I would say the only weakness to the program was the amount of work. If they could rearrange the class schedule to give students more time to travel that would make the program much better. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I lived with the other girls in my program in an apartment literally across the street from the Colosseum! It was amazing and very nice. |
| * Food: |
It's Italian food. Enough said. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
My program took a trip to Sicily for 5 days which was very cool. We still had to do class there, but it was more leisurely and fun. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
I didn't have any issues with health problems other than the sniffles, which I took care of with medicine brought from home. One of my roommates did have a seizure while we were there and she was taken care of very well. |
| 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? | I spent about 50 Euros a week on groceries to cook dinner for myself. Monthly bus passes were 30 Euros. Other than shopping I didn't have that many personal expenses. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | I didn't incur any unexpected expenses that I wasn't informed of. I did need to buy 2 new cameras while there because the one I brought, and the replacement I purchased for it both broke. Other than that I didn't spend any money I wasn't expecting to. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
I had to learn Italian and use it in everyday life from day one. I learned it a lot faster that way. My professors were amazing as well. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | A student that loves ancient history, is a fast reader, and likes learning! |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Forma Urbis |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | Darius Arya and Alberto Prieto |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | This is the main course for this program. It counts as 2 courses in most universities. It is a considerable amount of work, but you will learn a lot. I particularly enjoyed this course because I was able to visit all the ancient tourist sites with my class, and we were even allowed into some restricted areas, or areas closed to the public due to connections with the professors. I saw some amazing things, such as an ancient grave up close in a catacomb that is currently being excavated. We weren't allowed to take pictures because none of these finds have been published! It was an amazing course and I learned so much! We also got to do an excavation for a week at the very end of the program and I found an important artifact! I can't say what it is or show a picture of it because they still have to process and publish the information. It was the most amazing experience. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | No! No transfer issues! |
