Rome: A life changing cultural experience Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

At CEA we enjoy experiential learning. We learn about the culture of Italy in the classroom, and then get to experience it in everyday life in Rome. One thing, it was difficult to enroll in courses that worked with my home University. Too soon before i left for Italy, I found out that half the courses that I innitially enrolled in were not being offered. THis made it very difficult for me because i had chose CEA because it offered alot of courses that worked wtih my schedule. Half of them were gone once I got to ROme, and i had to jump through hoops to make sure that my academics were going to count for my home university.

On-site administration of your program

It was difficult dealing with a non-University study abroad program at my school's study abroad office. They did not give me all the proper forms I needed to get my Visa, and once I found this out, it was very late and took a really long time to obtain it from them. Study abroad advisors were also difficult to get in touch with and did not always have sufficient information for me.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

It was disappointing how far away out apartment was from the center of Rome. Since it sometimes takes an hour and a half to go to the center, I did not get to experience Rme as much as i wanted to because of lack of convenience. I understand that CEA is not in the center, but my apartment was a 30 minute walk to campus on the way North east end of Rome. I wish that it had been 30 minutes on the opposite side of CEA so I could have enjoyed the vibrance of Rome more. I enjoyed my roommates, but I would have loved to be in a living situation that really aided my language acquisition. It would be great to see CEA offer a host family option for living for those who wanted to significantly improve their language skills.

Good.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

The weekend trip to Capri was very memorable. CEA does a good job at providing activities in Rome to its students. i.e. dinners at CEA, volunteering, museums. Unfortunately I had to miss out on several because of class timing.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

The safety session with the police officer from Florence was very informative. I always felt safe, the program was exceptional in making us feel this way. Always knew I could easily reach them in emergency on the emergency cellphone.

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

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• Apartment

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• Americans

• The staff!!! The staff are so kind and welcoming and fun! I always loved seeing them around CEA. THey really care about their students and will go to any measure to help. This was more than I could have asked for.

• Internet
• More trips throughout Italy!
• Housing locations, I am speaking for the apartments furthest away in African Quarter.