Fiji shark behavior & conservation, wicked awesome dives, and FUN Past Review
By A student (University of Maine - Orono) - abroad from 07/07/2016 to 07/31/2016 with
Broadreach: Program at Sea - Fiji Shark Studies
I gained new friends, increased confidence, and I caught the travel bug. I'd say it was worthwhile.
Review Photos
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | None |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The course itself is very introductory, and I had a very hard time engaging because it was designed so that any major could take it without any prerequisites. I had already taken numerous advanced marine biology courses prior to this experience, including biology of fishes and sharks. However, the diving education was all new to me and was a lot of fun. I did receive my advanced open water certification and a couple specialties as well. All in all, I did learn quite a bit. The resources provided to complete our research projects were a few books and an occasional hour of patchy wifi, so if you take this course, be prepared to do school work without wifi. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
Food was absolutely excellent, especially in our village stay. All of it was homemade, and each student has a night where they cook for the class. In the village stay, my host family fed me curries, soups, babakau (pancake bread), parrotfish, rice, and more. I was always eating something awesome and trying new things. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
The sharks get very, very close. :) However, there are many divemasters that protect the divers during shark feedings with poles and they do not let them approach too close. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
I would rather just go to Fiji on my own time than pay the tuition again. It was rather expensive, and I received absolutely no financial aid because it was only three credits. |
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) |
FJD are less than USD, so $1USD ~~$2.25FJD. I spent maybe $200USD in the entire trip (3 weeks), probably less than that. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | usually less than $70FJD ($35USD) |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Choose activities that are less expensive (i.e. day at the beach, museum trips, explore the capital,) instead of ziplining, renting fishing charters, etc. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | No |
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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* 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? | 10+ |
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? | That I had to bring an international charging adapter... it was not on the program packing list at all...... :P |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Academic or LinguistYou went abroad with specific academic goals in mind; the program credentials and rigor of your coursework abroad were very important to you. You had a great time abroad, but never lost sight of your studies and (if applicable) were diligent with your foreign language study. Good for you! |
