Confidence building. Pushes you to grow. Fun! Busy work. January 31, 2023

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

A rich educational experience by way of my interactions with locals in my living situation, at the University of Florence, and outside of the classroom. The courses at the Middlebury Sede were highly, and in my opinion unnecessarily, rigorous. Due to scheduling issues, I took 2.5 courses at the Sede and one at the University. Across all Sede courses, produced approximately 60 pages of writing. While my academic writing improved, I found this to add an unnecessary amount of work to my plate the held me back from engaging with the community in Florence, with other students, and above all from spending time/energy doing the coursework for my University of Florence course.

On-site administration of your program

The administrative layout of Italian universities is much more hands-off. However, students attending Middlebury's program pay an American university tuition. Middlebury's administration rises above the hands-off Italian approach when it comes to dealing with student emergencies. They certainly make themselves available to help students in need. Otherwise, I found their engagement with students to be lacking. Besides a welcome and farewell dinner, there was very little effort to put students in contact with one another. There were gaps in communication. The physical site wasn't exactly a space in which students wanted to spend time, especially considering the mask restrictions which seemed to be the only covid restrictions in the city of Florence at that time. The administration was kind and cordial, but overall had the level of engagement of an Italian university with an Italian level tuition.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Nice space. Lots of opportunities to speak Italian. Great neighborhood. I am grateful to Middlebury for finding apartments with Italian roommates/hosts for us to live in.

I'm a good cook.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

It takes time, and of course also depends on your language level. By the end, I felt that I could navigate the local culture fairly easily, and made a good friend at the university. Of course, you have to be proactive about this - no one is going to do it for you.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I didn't have any issues with health, but if I did I got the sense that Middlebury was ready to help out and that they provided adequate resources and instruction on how to use them.

Florence felt like a safe city to me. Obviously, common sense is required. I walked home on a few occasions late at night, but I'm also a tall male.

To be fair, I would choose something VERY close to Middlebury, but with a better grasp on sufficient academic rigor. I came abroad to grow personally and in my capacity to speak the language. That happened, but not because I had to put in long hours of studying everyday. I believe the program could have a better grasp on why students come and how to push them to improve and grow in the right ways. More interaction, less busy work.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

Cooking for myself, I didn't need to spend much. Food in Italy is not that expensive, especially at the grocery store. Of course, there's also rent and tuition to consider..

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

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• Apartment

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• Other

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• Local Students
• Americans
• International Students

• Living and interacting with locals.
• University of Florence.

• More student to student engagement.
• readjust goals of academic rigour.
• Covid protocols unnecessary and hinder student interaction.

The Nearly Native or Trail Blazer