Take your mark, Andiamo! Past Review
By Emma Tomasetti (Arcadia University) - abroad from 01/25/2016 to 05/14/2016 with
Arcadia: Rome - Arcadia in Rome
It was so so so worth it. I would do it all over again a million times. I loved the food, and the city, and all of the people I met were amazing. I learned how to live in a completely different city that is unlike my own in America, I had to make so many adjustments (language, diet, transportation, living with strangers).
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. |
The professors were very understanding and constantly made the course work interesting and manageable. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Great staff at the Arcadia in Rome office! If I needed anything they were only a quick e-mail/ right down the road. Very friendly and always helpful. They knew the area so well and they made my transition/ experience abroad wonderful! |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
We could not have asked for a better apartment. Very nice space and was big enough for six girls to get along in! Very nice location and within walking distance from the university/metro/food store/other types of stores. |
| * Food: |
We were in Italy. We ate very well for those four months. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
It was a hard adjustment coming from America to Rome. It took about a month to get the hang of things. The Arcadia staff helped us out a lot with anything we were unsure of as far as cultural norms go. We lived far enough away from the main tourist attractions that we were able to live a "slow" typical Italian life, which as you can imagine wasn't bad getting used to. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I had an ear infection on my second week in Rome. I e-mailed one of the Arcadia staff in Rome and she set me up an appointment for the next day. All I had to do was show up and everything was paid for. I had abroad health insurance so as long as I emailed them my info it was paid for. No "local" healthcare needed, just abroad healthcare service. No vaccines needed. |
| * Safety: |
They only incident that I ever had in Rome unfortunately happened on my first night I was there. And even more unfortunately, it was the night before my program even started so I felt very alone. There was a shooter in the main train station in Rome while my friend and I were catching the train back to our airport hotel. We hid in a store for about an hour while I called every Arcadia number I could find until a counselor consultant affiliated with Arcadia came to our rescue. It turns out the gunman was crazy and had a fake gun. Nonetheless, the incident very much freaked me and my friend out. It took me a few weeks to get over the incident on top of adjusting to living 4,000 miles away from home. But for the rest of my four months I felt completely safe and nothing bad happened again. The Arcadia staff was 100 percent helpful during the situation and were very quick to respond. I am very very thankful that they were able to help us out even though it was the day before the program started. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
I love Rome but I would want to live and experience a new city. |
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) |
I spent over the amount that I wanted to, but I didn't go crazy with trips and buying things. Rome is pretty cheap so that was a plus. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $100 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Find out when the cheapest flights to the cities you want to travel to are, and travel to those places then. Student Discounts on EVERYTHING is the key. Always try for the student discounts. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
We spoke Italian in our class but our other classes were taught in English. I had never learned Italian before, but I feel that I learned more walking around and living in Italy than I ever did in the class. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Beginner |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | 102 French |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Learn from the streets! Speak the language with the locals, it is the best way to learn. When you are buying food, ordering at a restaurant, or getting on the metro. |
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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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | I wish that I did a little more research about how the city is mapped out just so I could have a better sense of where I was. |
