Patience Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I would like to say that some students give studying abroad this apperance/facade that you do not do any work. I know that there are some students who tell you thats not true and they did, but I actually did hours of work while I was abroad. I was required to learn Italian which was difficult because they moved at a fast pace and because everything counts at Uhart and I was having credits count and what not I needed to do my best, the classes were challenging but they were not impossible. The resources are like any other class we take in America. We use some of the suggested and may not use the others.

On-site administration of your program

They were very supportive and even arranged trips for us throughout our time there which was great! All of them were organized and it was a great learning experience. They tried their best to have us adjust and gave us tips as to what we should and should not do.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I felt like my apartment was located in a sketchy area.. My program told me to avoid one road connecting to my apartment road at night and to take a different route if I am ever out. My apartment itself was very nice and new! The wifi however sucked and would go out all the time and the program was not very understanding of this. It was the most frustrating during finals week when my roommates and I had to study or get into contact with our family and couldn't.

Food was amazing! I was in Italy! I tried so many great things! I cook for myself at home so it wasn't hard for me to prepare dinner for the night and make sure I had left over for lunch the next day and what not but I know that my roommates didn't know how and that could be a struggle.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Very little. It's hard and intimidating. Italians don't like Americans and because I am a girl I would get those comments like "hey baby girl, oh my god, blah blah blah" I ended up blocking out everyone which was a shame but when it actually came to interacting with locals for obvious reasons like grocery shopping and what not, it was a pleasant experience most of the time

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

TERRIBLE! I can not express how terrible it was for me! The flu was really bad this past winter and I got it. I had to walk myself twenty minutes to this building where the "doctors office" was and ended up walking an extra 15-20 minutes with a terrible fever because I couldn't find it. The office was small and the doctor treated me in a room that looked like my bedroom in Italy. My doctor had poor English, in the sense that she knew words but didn't understand what I was saying and spoke very fast with a thick accent. She ended up giving me a basic antibiotic and some kind of Italian tylenol I could pick up at a pharmacy, in the end, I diagnosed myself because she didn't, she just wrote down my symptoms and shooed me away with a prescription, which she also told me I didn't have to buy.. which defeats my purpose of going to the doctor because in America you go to the doctors and they tell you what to take and what to do, they don't say to you, if you want, you can take this or you can not take it and just live with your illness.

I was really paranoid in Italy. I think I was just lucky or smart to be honest. I was ALWAYS super cautious about what I did and where I put things but I heard of people getting their things stolen. I heard this one girl telling someone just ran up from behind her and just ripped her bag off her shoulder and ran away. Half of my roommates got pick pocketed, nothing happened to me though

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

That is hard to say because people have different spending habits and depending on how you are situated in your country you can spend more or less. I think I did pretty well, I was really worried for a while that I was not going to have enough and I funded my own trip so I really had to make sure I managed my money well and in the end I came home with a little under 150$ which was enough to hold me over until I started my summer job.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

They encourage us all the time but Italians couldn't stand it so they would speak to us in English and we would just give in.

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• Apartment

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• Americans

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• Americans

• The size of the classes

• nothing

The Academic or Linguist