The best thing I ever did. Past Review
By A student (Providence College) - abroad from 01/22/2012 to 05/12/2012 with
Fairfield University: Florence - Semester or Year in Italy
Learned how to appreciate the world around us and that the US is not the only country, nor the best. I learned to appreciate the opportunity I had because it changed who I am as a person for the better.
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. |
Academics were very easy to manage while abroad. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
FUA was a small school, however I liked it. It was not the best run school I have ever seen and have a very strict policy on changing classes. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
LOVED housing. Got a wonderful apartment, with 5 other girls, it was furnished with new appliances, comfortable furniture and the best location. |
| * Food: |
Way to good. The food in Italy is to die for and it got a be a little bit of a problem when we started getting gelato twice a day. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I felt partially integrated with the culture. I found that about half the locals loved us American study abroad students while the other half despised us. Tried to integrate as much as I could by speaking their language, eating at local places and shopping at local places. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
Not sure, I didn't have any health care issues. |
| * Safety: |
Felt very safe. Never felt as though my life was in serious danger, but a city is a city and sometimes things got a little sketchy at night. Also, pick-pocketers everywhere. |
| 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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| * Was housing included in your program cost? | Yes |
| * Was food included in your program cost? | No |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | Roughly 50 euros |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Always research the cheapest way to travel. It is completely do-able to see a lot of Europe on a tight budget when you put effort into research. |
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? | Intermediate |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | Never taken Italian before |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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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? | It will be the most stressful, but amazing 4 months of your life and you will learn so much about yourself from it that you never would otherwise. It will go by in a flash, so enjoy every single second of it. |
