The hardest and most rewarding five months of my life. Past Review
By Zachary B (International/Global Studies, Baylor University) - abroad from 07/28/2014 to 12/18/2014 with
Universidad Nacional de Cuyo: Mendoza - Direct Enrollment & Exchange
Everything? Can I just say that? Of course it was worthwhile, I learned so much and came back a very different person. I'd rather not spend the next two hours talking about the almost infinite number of things I gained and learned from the experience, also, most of these things are indescribable, so I'll stop there.
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. |
Good professors, you can make your educational experience as hard or as easy as you would like. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
You are set up with CELE (their version of an ESL office) which is a huge help! They care about you a lot and you can go to them with any problem you have. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I loved my host mom and she really treated me like a child of her own while still giving me all the freedom I enjoy while living on my own. I plan to go back to see her this Summer. |
| * Food: |
Having a mom again who cooks for you for every meal is pretty neat. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
The semester program for this program is incredibly intense culturally. You don't have trips planned for you and you are rarely around people from your country (unless you want to be). This forces you to be involved, to speak the language, and find your own activities to do. Whether you want it to or not, the culture will become a part of you, I'm even sipping on my mate right now. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
If you want to see some cultural remedies for illness, this program is the program for you. Your host mom will know exactly what to do for whatever problem you have, whether it's a special tea or having you lie down on the couch and placing a rock on your forehead. |
| * Safety: |
If you follow the rules, nothing will happen to you. However, I find it very important to step outside of your American bubble a little. I may have stepped outside this bubble a lot and I had my own incidences, but these experiences are invaluable to me. I think it's very important to understand that people in other countries don't have the extremely high level of security we have here in the US, and that's something you can't fully understand until you go through it yourself. However, like I said, if you do follow all the rules and do what CELE and your host family tells you to do (and not to do), absolutely nothing safety-wise will happen to you. |
| 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) |
Argentina is having a huge inflation problem which makes living on a budget incredibly easy. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $40-$70 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Spend more money! How many times in your life are you going to have this experience? Live it to the fullest! A few months from now you won't remember that $50 you spent to go on a weekend trip with some new Argentine friends. |
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 |
In the summer program you can go without a strong use of the language. However, on this program you have to use the language everyday, take classes in the language, and read, take tests, and study in the language. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Advanced |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | SPA 3301 (Spanish conversation and composition) |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | 10+ |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Fully immerse yourself in the language when you get down there. Find spanish music to listen to, find a good spanish tv show to keep up with, get out of the house and walk around, someone is bound to come up and ask you questions since you are a foreigner. The biggest thing: Don't spend all your time with your Yankee friends! It is important to spend a lot of time with them since they are going to be your lifetime friends when you get back to the states, however, it's very easy to slip into only hanging out with them. |
Direct Enrollment/Exchange
| * Did you study abroad through an exchange program or did you directly enroll in the foreign university? | Direct Enrollment |
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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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? | It's definitely okay to go explore on your own. You will arrive knowing next to nobody. It's okay to wander around downtown alone, to hike up to Cerro Arco alone, to head over to Chile on a weekend alone. Don't waste so much time at the beginning of the semester worrying about not being able to do anything because you don't know anyone and just go on some adventures solo. |
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 Nearly Native or Trail BlazerCraving the most authentic experience possible, perhaps you lived with a host family or really got in good with the locals. You may have felt confined by your program requirements and group excursions. Instead, you'd have preferred to plan your own trips, even skipping class to conduct your own 'field work.' |
