Incredible Opportunity, Tough Conditions December 21, 2024
By A student (Film, Wellesley College) - abroad from 08/23/2024 to 12/19/2024 with
CET Film Production at FAMU
I learned an incredible amount about film production, specifically in analogue film. I learned how to deal with difficult people in film, on and off set. That was painful but extremely valuable. It was worthwhile because I earned a great entry for my portfolio and tougher skin. I did have the privilege of working with some amazing young filmmakers- the best thing CET FAMU ever did was to hire Leila Basma as an advisor.
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. |
The film production at FAMU was worth it; it exceeded Wellesley's film production abilities by miles and I learned so much more at FAMU. FAMU's process of making a film was extremely rigorous and intense. The core courses August-October were rigorous in their length and time commitment and less educational in their workload. The electives at FAMU were underwhelming. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The administration of CET was fine, very lovely kind staff- completely unable to support their students through FAMU's bullying. The administration of FAMU is incredibly taxing, arduous, and unsupportive. Many members of the FAMU International administration were downright abusive to the students. This is not only the case for the study abroad students- they are generally unsupportive of they full-time students. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Living arrangements were in a lovely neighborhood- if somewhat far from the city center. Accommodations in one of the apartments were far nicer than the other apartment in terms of renovation and updates. I most missed and lacked a living room space- would have been very nice for such a rigorous program. |
| * Food: |
Was very happy with Prague's food scene. Delicious and affordable. |
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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? |
The CET-FAMU program's extremely unforgiving schedule (no lunch breaks) is not beneficial for health. |
| * Safety: |
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| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
FAMU provided so much more instruction, resources and opportunities in film production than ever would have been possible at Wellesley. All of the extreme stress and frustration was worth it for the film that they helped me create. The program itself is extremely rigorous, and the CET staff are unprepared to support the wellbeing of their FAMU students against the heavy schedule and the FAMU administration's bullying. |
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
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
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| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Beginner |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? |
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 exactly how rigorous the program would be, and that CET admits students with different levels of experience, and does not do anything themselves to supplement the students who lack experience. It is on the students ourselves to teach each other and pick up the slack. |
