Exciting, Enriching, Adventurous and Unforgettable. Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The GREEN Program did a good job of incorporating academics with interesting and memorable activities. The classes we attended were not overly difficult, however provided interesting and useful information. Nevertheless, I believe that I learned the most from interacting with my peers during the Capstone Project and through everyday conversation on the trip. The variety of different experiences and backgrounds that the students brought to the program facilitated a type of learning and conversation that cannot be gained in the classroom. Talking to others with different majors but a similar interest in the environment opened my eyes to a new way to understand sustainability and that was the most beneficial learning experience that I could have gained.

On-site administration of your program

A little different from a traditional study abroad program, our GREEN leaders chose to reveal our schedule day by day and sometimes hour by hour. The spontaneity of the trip, while a tad nerve-racking at first, made each experience more memorable. As we did not know what was coming next, we focused solely on what we were doing at the moment, whether that was hiking a glacier or visiting a hydropower plant. The trip paired active activities with academic ones well, allowing us to gain knowledge but also just have fun experiences. Even more, our leaders for the trip were phenomenal. All four were accommodating, enthusiastic and obviously wanted to give us the best experience possible.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I was very satisfied with the living arrangements. With just about 40 students, we had a large group and so essentially took up an entire small guest house/hotel about 45 minutes outside of Reykjavik. The owners of the hotel were friendly and accommodating. Having just our group stay at the hotel allowed all of us to bond, as we chose to spend our free time relaxing in the lobby instead of our rooms. We then stayed in another small hotel for two nights, which was equally as nice. The best experience, however, was the campsite we stayed at. We had the option of sleeping in one of two cabins or in a tent. This was my favorite place to stay. We cooked our own meals, got to know each other in tight quarters and watched the sun set then rise over the Icelandic mountains from our remote campground.

The food that we ate was very good. We were exposed to traditional Icelandic meals and had the opportunity to try many different dishes. Our meals ranged from fresh fish and lamb prepared for us by the hotel staff, sandwiches for lunch on our hikes to cooking our own food at the campsite.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Along with our two GREEN leaders from the US, we were accompanied by two Icelandic leaders who work for a tour company that the GREEN program pairs up with. They were very knowledgeable about the history of Iceland as well as its culture. We learned a lot from them and freely asked them questions about Iceland and its people throughout the trip. We did not spend much time in Reykjavik, only traveling there for class and spending one day sightseeing the city. However, we did interact with many locals throughout the trip in the towns and different areas we visited. We were with our group for the entire trip and therefore I did not interact a lot with locals, however I feel that experienced Icelandic culture by the time I left.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

There were no health care issues on my program.

Iceland as a whole is an incredibly safe country and known for its low crime rate. This included Reykjavik. There is very little crime and all four of our leaders assured us of this. Therefore, I felt incredibly safe in the country we did not experience any issues with safety on the trip.

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

The trip was payed for upfront, and I only needed money for snacks and any souvenirs I hoped to purchase. Therefore it was very easy to live on a student budget while I was there.

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• Hotel

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• Americans

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• Americans

• Our group became very close on the trip.
• I got the chance to do activities that I will never get to do again.
• The trip incorporated the academic aspect of the program into a exciting activities.

• I think the capstone project should have had more preparation.
• The classes covered basic concepts similar to the modules and I think they could have been more in-depth.
• I would have liked a little more time to work on the capstone project.

The Avid Adventurer