Had a great time despite organizational challenges September 05, 2023
By Caroline H (Gender, Development and Social Change, Middlebury College) - abroad from 02/04/2023 to 05/20/2023 with
SIT Study Abroad Nepal: Development, Gender, and Social Change in the Himalaya
Learned a lot espiecally my love for Nepal!
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Overall fairly disorganized but very intense. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Fairly disorganized |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Loved my host family! |
| * Food: |
Very accommodating |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Felt very integrated |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
Students were not supported. A member of my program was in the hospital for a week with no oversight from SIT |
| * Safety: |
Nepal is very safe. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
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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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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | 20 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Keep the unrealistic stipend for the ISP in mind when choosing where/what ISP project will be. |
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? | n/A |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Depends on host family |
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?
Select all that apply |
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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? | Level of language expected. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Nepali |
| Course Department: | Language |
| Instructor: | 3 INSTRUCTORS |
| Instruction Language: | Nepali |
| Comments: | Very challenging with unrealistic expectations of students. Were given no feedback throughout the course and then very harsh grades at the end. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | No |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Field Methods and Ethics |
| Course Department: | Development |
| Instructor: | |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | not very well thought out but had good guest speakers |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
ISP |
| Course Department: | ISP |
| Instructor: | N/A |
| Instruction Language: | Nepali |
| Comments: | Was provided little to no support but got lucky with my region and ended up with a good product. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | no |
