An Unforgettable Semester Past Review
By Hannah C (Psychology, University of Rochester) - abroad from 07/04/2015 to 11/14/2015 with
IES Abroad: Cape Town - University of Cape Town
I learned how to be independent and how to immerse myself in a completely new program. The most important lesson I took away from my time abroad was how much I have in common with people of essentially "different walks of life". I made incredible friends and I've become much more self-aware. This experience was definitely worthwhile.
Review Photos
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. |
Prior to contrary belief, studying abroad is not just a holiday. Studying at UCT, one of South Africa's best universities, was not a piece of cake. I studied a lot and worked hard constantly as did everyone else. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The IES Abroad office was easily accessible and always available to help should I ever need it |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Living in a residence hall was one of my favorite parts of study abroad. It was such a great experience and such a great way to immerse myself in South African culture and to learn from people from all over Africa. |
| * Food: |
Personally, I wasn't the biggest fan of the local "African" food but there were many options all over the place if you're taste buds shy away from spicy food, like me. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I felt extremely integrated with the culture. I became comfortable living with people of a completely different culture from me and I was able to take part in service opportunities which surrounded me with the culture even more. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I will have to say, regarding healthcare issues, this was not made easily accessible. I did need to go to the doctor once and it was very confusing for me as it's much different abroad than in the States. I think helping students with this is something IES Abroad could work more towards. |
| * Safety: |
This is a conflicting review for me because Cape Town is by far not the safest place in the world however I felt very safe for many reasons. IES Abroad provided me with excellent safety advice and so I knew when it was appropriate to walk alone on the Main Rd and when it was not and what to do if I ever were confronted. Fortunately, I never ran into these issues and felt decently safe throughout my semester. Also the dorm I stayed in felt very safe to me as the security was top-notch |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
IES Abroad thoroughly supported me throughout my entire semester and provided me with all the resources and tools necessary to make sure I acclimated well to the South African culture. |
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) |
Fortunately, South Africa is much less expensive right now than in the states. So my dollar (or rand) could go a long way. This is one of the reasons why I'm so grateful I chose South Africa over somewhere in Europe because I felt I was able to see and experience more just because of how inexpensive it was. The only downside was if I wanted to travel at all, it was very pricey. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | About $30- $40. Food was only about $20 per week. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Budgeting weekly was extremely important for me and planning my meals out a week in advance helped me tremendously to be able to have money for all the activities I wanted to do. I would only take a certain amount of rand out from the ATM each week and decided this was all I could spend for that whole week. It worked out very well for the most part. |
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? |
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? | This is a hard question because everything I learned while abroad, I am so grateful to have learned it there. I guess I wish I knew that it's okay to not study all the time and to do as much as you can during these few short months. You won't regret doing things that may change your output on the world even if it involves a few hours less of studying. |
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 Avid AdventurerThe wardrobe you packed was better suited for a semester of camping than club hopping. Outdoorsy, you might forgo a crazy night out for an early all-day adventure. You'd rather take in the rich culture of an old town than the metropolis of a modern city, but for you getting off the grid is ideal. |
