Florence, the city who taught me to take every experience with an open mind. Past Review

By Liana M (Global Studies, Providence College) for

CEA CAPA Education Abroad: Florence, Italy

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?

Yes, more than ever! It impacted everything about my life and I feel as if I'm going home completely different. I have realized how the world and life really does work and how inter-connected everyone in the world really is.

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program?	0-2 weeks

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.	For being abroad, I felt the workload was definitely heavy. I had homework every night and had midterms along with essays throughout the semester. The grading system was not as heavy as home, being graded solely on attendance, midterms and finals and a MY Education report that of which you had to attend lectures that the school provided outside of classtime.
* Host Country Program Administration On-site administration of your program	Was not very pleased with my program after comparing to others here in Florence. Had problems with my first homestay and had to find my own to move to. Also, classes here were very long (3 hours each), and professors were not all of the best. We were given a lot of homework which took up time for us to go out and enjoy the city. When I had problems with something, the staff was not exactly supportive. Also, everyone was put in apartments or homestays VERY far away from the center and the school (almost everyone had about a 30 to 40 minute walk), made it dangerous when we wanted to see each other and even when going out at night.
* Housing: How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?	My host family was amazing, a mother, father, and three little children who we grew to love. I couldn't have asked for a better family to stay with. Was about a 15 minute walk to school but it is typical for families to live outside of the city center and it was a safe walk and great neighborhood.
* Food:	Food was amazing. My host mother was a great cook and if not, Italy in general has the greatest food.
* Social & Cultural Integration: How integrated did you feel with the local culture?	Were a vast amount of field trips, for example took a day trip with CAPA to Siena and San Gimignano, was very interesting and a lot of fun!
* Health Care: How well were health issues addressed during the program?
* Safety:	Never felt un-safe here in Florence. Just have to be careful like you would in any city.
If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program?	No

Finances

* 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)
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants?	Just make sure to budget your spendings while here. It is difficult especially with the euro conversion sometimes you are unsure of what you are really spending. I did not do too much shopping here but spend most of my money on travel. There are many student travel groups you can use which are more inexpensive than trying to book a trip by yourself.

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component?	Yes
If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition?
Language acquisition improvement?	Take language courses as well as live with a homestay family. This was how I best improved on my Italian from home.

Other Program Information

* Where did you live? Select all that apply	Host Family
* Who did you live with? Select all that apply	Host Family
* Who did you take classes with? Select all that apply	Americans

A Look Back

* What did you like most about the program?	It's internship ability and the way it culturally immersed its students
* What could be improved?	It's classes and teaching style, and where they put their students to live
* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program?	GO ABROAD! There is no doubt in my mind, no matter if I had a few struggles down the road or not that it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I know that sounds cliche, but it truly did change me as a person and helped me become more independent. It also made me really see the world for what it is instead of my small town back home in America.

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:	Learning Through Internships
Course Department:	CAPA-003
Instructor:	Anna Kraczyna
Instruction Language:	English/Italian
Comments:	This course was great because it provided me with an internship here abroad in Italy. It was one of my favorite classes and I am so happy to say that I did an internship abroad. I met great people and I was able to see what an Italian workplace was really like and I also saw how great of an impact different cultures have on even the workplace. Also, Anna was my favorite teacher here at CAPA, she was great and knows so much about the Italian culture.
Credit Transfer Issues:

Course Name/Rating:	Impact of Globalization on the European Markets
Course Department:	FLOR- 3040
Instructor:	Andrea Giuntini
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	Teacher spoke poor english and all you did was sit behind a desk for 3 hours and was lectured to by powerpoint with bulletpoints. You learned a lot about Europe and it's economy and it's history but at the same time very boring. Only was graded during class participation, midterm and final.
Credit Transfer Issues:

Course Name/Rating:	Oil Painting
Course Department:	FLOR-1302
Instructor:	Jamie Morris
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	very fun, relaxing class. Never had homework and learned a lot about oil painting even as just a beginner. Definitely recommend this or any other art class at CAPA.
Credit Transfer Issues:

Course Name/Rating:	Italian Taught Understanding Modern Italy
Course Department:	FLOR-3342
Instructor:	Guido Reverdito
Instruction Language:	Italian
Comments:	Was a good course, taught me a lot about modern day Italy and some of it's modern history. Problem was never once went outside of the classroom to experience Florence and Italy for itself, was solely lectures and projects we had to do. Also, a lot of homework was given.
Credit Transfer Issues:

Course Name/Rating:	Analyzing the Global City: Florence
Course Department:	CAPA: 001
Instructor:	Zachary Androus
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	Great class, you learn a lot about globalization and it's effect on the city today that you would have never known or seen previously to coming to Florence, especially as a tourist. We went on field trips almost every other week and you learn a lot that you never would have thought you would. Also, not too much homework, enough to handle while being abroad, and it's also interesting not tedious.
Credit Transfer Issues: