An experience I will never forget!! Past Review
By Spencer F (Business, University of Utah) for
CEA CAPA Education Abroad: Rome, Italy
I really learned how to be more independent.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The workload between the two were relatively similar. School is school and no matter what you will have work but CEA did a great job at making it fun. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Some of the strengths of CEA: Rome were that the staff was great! They were more than willing to do anything possible to make your experience better or just to help you with anything you needed help with. For example a bunch of the guys liked to play basketball so they paid for us to rent a court and even set up a CEA basketball game for the program (a ton of fun!). Over all the staff was amazing!! Some weaknesses was the program size. The program only had 65 kids in it and depending on what your looking for this could be a bad thing or a good thing. For me it was perfect. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The apartment we lived in was decent. It was a pretty good set up but it was far away from everything. we were a 25 minute walk from school and the metro station and a 25 minute commute into the heart of Rome. This was the one thing that made everything a little more difficult. I paid for the upgrade and came to find out that it was the same as everyone else's apartment so if you have the choice don't choose the upgrade. Overall this only made my experience different because we lived in an italian community which made it fun in a lot of ways. |
| * Food: |
LOVE Italian food!! |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
All the field trips were a ton of fun!! Everyone from the program getting together and exploring Italy. CEA: Rome did a great job at setting up great trips to Florence, Bomarzo, and Tuscany but also had a ton of activities during the regular week you could participate in such as bike ride, cooking class, basketball game, and many more. Over all the Social and Cultural experience was great and I wouldn't have it any other way |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Overall the safety was very good! I never felt at danger at any point in the program. The health assistant was very good. One of my roommates was very ill one night and we called the emergency line and within 30 minutes we had a member of the staff over at our apartment ready to do anything to help him out. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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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) |
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Language
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
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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? | Some words of wisdom I would give would be to take advantage of every opportunity you get and enjoy the time you have abroad!! Any type of student would benefit most from this program! |
