Extreme growth in a personal way Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

As an art student, I felt the rigor of the art classes academically was not as difficult as the art classes in my home university. In Italy, they took much more into account creativity and your own expression, whereas in the states they are more focused on design, and concepts about the art form itself.

On-site administration of your program

They were helpful at times. They were pretty knowledgable about the program, although not many people had done it with my major before.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I enjoyed the living arrangements, my apartment was on the quieter side of the city which was nice, and the apartment was very authentically Italian.

I didn't use the school "resident kitchen" or anything, they had a kind of residence hall place you could get a meal plan for. But I mainly cooked and went out to places. But the food in the country itself is excellent, of course.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I wish I had learned more Italian upon leaving, but other than that it was fine. I also wish I would have done a volunteer program that would have got me interacting with more locals, but I thought the classes were going to be really hard, so I didn't want to constrain my time.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

No health issues arose.

I felt Florence was very safe. Just as long as you don't stick out immediately like a tourist, you'll blend better. As in don't dress like an american, don't shout things in english, etc because you'll get looked at as a target. Don't walk around alone too late at night (after like 11) if you are a female and if you must, only walk in lit areas. SAI provided us with cab numbers, so we would call a cab if we wanted to go somewhere late. So definitely call cabs- there is a discount for females after such a time (I think 11:30pm) you just have to ask for it. Also, don't respond to cat-callers. If you are a female know that you WILL get cat-called just on principle. Don't look at them, talk to them or engage with them and they will stop. Same thing with street salesmen (i.e. selfie sticks, umbrellas, knock off purses, sunglasses) do not engage with them. Just look down and keep walking. Always wear a cross body bag and keep your hand on it, never let it out of your reach because unfortunately pick pocketing is a very real problem. My roommate had her purse pickpocketed twice with her wallet stolen twice, and another time her entire purse was stolen with hundreds of euros still inside- and that was while we were inside a restaurant. So always keep it on you and in your sight.

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

It was easy to live on about 80 per week or less on a regular school week. The only things me and my roommates would buy were groceries. In talking about like a 3 day weekend or you want to go somewhere, obviously that will be more expensive. Train tickets are cheap if you do a day trip. But factor in sleeping arrangements, food, and travel if you do more than one day somewhere.

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

It wasn't mandatory for me to take an Italian class, but it might have been helpful. I had done the beginners level of Rosetta Stone before leaving.

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• Apartment

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• Americans

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• International Students

• The classes were very fun, and I was able to learn things I would never have in the States
• They gave us time to travel, and certainly lots of opportunities to, which i appreciated
• It was very authentic

• The more academic sided classes could be more structured, because american students are used to more structured classes
• The transcripts could be sent in faster (although that most likely is the fault of the government mailing system not the program itself)

The Academic or Linguist