Pros & Cons - CEA Program in Rome Past Review
By Gabrielle Oliveira (Communication, University of Texas - San Antonio) - abroad from 08/28/2018 to 12/15/2018 with
CEA CAPA Education Abroad: Rome, Italy
By studying in another country, you can grow so much as a person. I have learned how to be more responsible, how to manage my time correctly, how to stay on a budget, how to plan a trip right, and how to be more organized with so many things on my plate at once.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 6 months+ |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
CEA does not offer a big variety of courses to take and if you're doing JCU courses, you can only choose max. 2 classes to take there. Since the CEA Center is only a building, I feel like it misses the "college environment" so it feels way more like high school, especially because there is mandatory attendance. Overall, the classes (that I took, at least) are nice but I would really like if there were more options of courses. Additionally, they should definitely offer more than just the introductory Italian class so other students can continue their studies in the language. |
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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? |
The house is big and modern, besides being located in a great area! The only thing I think it could have been better is the size of the fridge. It was really hard to fit 6 girl's groceries inside a super small fridge. Also, CEA should have offered more drying racks, because they were only 2 small ones and, again, it was very hard to share it between 6 girls. |
| * Food: |
Italian food is the best. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
CEA did not prepare any events for us to interact with locals. The only cultural events they had were for Providence students, so if you were not from that program you wouldn't have an Italian roommate or other cultural things they had. However, there was one Italian food class offered by CEA and that was very nice! |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I did not need any health assistance during the program. |
| * Safety: |
I believe that if you are aware of your surroundings, then you should be fine! Try always going out with a friend or two at least, and avoid walking alone at night! My experiences with all public transportation were safe and I had no problems with safety. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
The CEA program overall was great, however, there were many "little things" that disappointed me and maybe if I would do another study abroad program I might not chose CEA due to that. Academically, John Cabot University (JCU) is way better and I would have chosen to study full-time there if I could. You can really experience an international environment, meet people from everywhere, join clubs and activities, use the gym, cafeteria, etc, besides the fact they are an actual university and offer a greater variety of courses to choose from. Another thing that disappointed me was that I was surrounded by (only) Americans. As an international student myself, I expected to have classes and interact with other international people, but at CEA that was not possible. I lived with 5 other American girls and had to speak English most of the time because they didn't speak any other languages, and even when we would go out, it was hard to practice my Italian if I was with them because then they wouldn't understand the conversation so even locals would try to speak in English instead of letting them try to speak in Italian. I believe those were my biggest disappointments, however, I really enjoyed the location of housing and the apartment itself. I have no complaints about living in the heart of Rome! Also, CEA staff is very friendly and helpful. I do think CEA tried hard to make this experience the best for everyone, but with most of their focus on the students from Providence college, it seemed like they forgot about the rest of the group. I rated my experience high because it wasn't only CEA that had an impact on it, but friends, new experiences, the trips, the new knowledge, and also my positive mindset that helped me when to get through difficult moments and make every day a special day and I will be forever grateful for this opportunity of studying abroad. |
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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| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | For staying on a budget, you need to plan ahead on how much you want to spend with food, social events, trips, etc. I usually bought a few groceries each week so I could have food for that week but no many leftovers since I was traveling on the weekends. I cooked way more than the times I went out to eat, it's way cheaper! Also, I would always buy cereal bars or a little snack when getting groceries so I wouldn't need to go to a cafe every time. For traveling, I always searched a lot on different websites (Skyscanner is great!) to find the best deals. Since I was flexible with where to go each time, I was able to get good deals in many flights. For accommodation, I would recommend staying in hostels because it is usually cheaper and, let's face it, you will spend just 2-3 nights there and barely be in the room anyway because you will be exploring around, so what is the need for a luxurious hotel room? There were a few places where a hotel room was either cheaper or the same price as the hostels, then yes, I would recommend staying in a hotel. I believe the location is the most important factor. Make sure where you're staying is either near the center of the city, so you can walk to majority of the sites, or near the airport/train station, so you can get a transportation easily. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | No |
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? | 0 |
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 I knew 90% of the people in this program was from Providence college and that CEA would have special and exclusive activities for them instead of having it for the whole group. |
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 NetworkerAn active student leader, it was important for you to network abroad as well. Once overseas, you sought out student clubs, volunteered with local organizations, or attended community events. You encouraged your friends join you, and often considered how you could reflect your international experiences in a resume. |
