Independence and Cooking Skills Learned in Milan Made me a Better Person Past Review

By Tyler W (Biology, General., Pacific Lutheran University) for

Universita degli studi di Milano: Bicocca - Direct Enrollment & Exchange

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?

I am infinitely more informed on Italian politics, food, culture, history, sports, people, immigration, and the list goes on and on. I have become more Independent, an accomplished cook, bilingual,and a more outgoing person in general. I thank the Milan program for helping me become who I now am.

Personal Information

If you took classes at multiple universities, list those universities here:	Universita degli studi di Milano-Bicocca
How much international exposure did you have prior to this program?	1 month - 6 months

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.	I thought it was an excellent program, yet I missed the organization and the excellent teachers at PLU. The Milano program was not quite as rigorous as PLU, but I enjoyed that aspect of it. I still learned many things, and I had enough free time to travel and explore.
* Host Country Program Administration On-site administration of your program	They are all very nice, they found us beautiful appartments, they always where very helpful and kind, and they always would smile and say hello when I passed by. I give them an A++
* Housing: How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?	I lived with two Americans and one Italian. Speaking with the Italian and travelling with him to meet different members of his family really helped me with the language. Interactions with the other two Americans where almost always in English, even though both of them spoke Italian rather well. This was frustrating, but overall, I really enjoyed my appartment. I would have liked to live with a host family, but sadly, there are none in Milan.
* Food:	The best food in the world.
* Social & Cultural Integration: How integrated did you feel with the local culture?	The social aspects where difficult because Milan is not a very welcoming city. It was difficult to meet real Italians. Once I found them it was very nice, but most of the people my age who I met lived outside of the city and would commute to Milan for school, so it was hard to spend much time with them. Travel and other non-academic aspects where both 5/5, I really enjoyed travelling around Italy!
* Health Care: How well were health issues addressed during the program?
* Safety:
If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program?	Yes

Finances

* 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)

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component?	Yes
If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition?
Language acquisition improvement?	Everyone was required to take language classes, but most people arrived in Italy with no prior knowledge of Italian. This annoying for me becuase I wanted to experience complete immersion, but the program had to the initial orientation in English and many things where only in English. Once the classes started, my level of annoyance decreased considerably, when I started taking most of my classes in Italian. Every week there was a guest lecturer but only one of them was in Italian, it would have been nice to have more in Italian.

Other Program Information

* Where did you live? Select all that apply	Apartment
* Who did you live with? Select all that apply	Other

A Look Back

* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program?	Take a class at an outside local university if at all possible. You will not regret your decision to partake in a genuine Italian experience! IES is organized and very nice, but it is a bubble of Americanness in Milan and you need to attempt to exit the building as much as possible in order to get a real taste of Milan.

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:	Intro Physics
Course Department:
Instructor:	Silvia Maria Doglia
Instruction Language:	Italian and English
Comments:	My physics class at Universita Bicocca was definitely not as accademically intense as the PLU equivilant would have been, but it was very fun to take the class and learn about their vastly different system. It was useful becuase I was able to interact with Italian students and practice my Italian a lot. The cultural experience was great, and I would recommend it to other students, but I am giving it a lower rating because of the accademics. We did not move very fast, the students where loud and rambunctious, and the class size was too big, but I'm still glad I took the class. One other slightly annoying aspect was the commute time: it took me at least half an hour to get there. This made me realize how spoiled American College students are; I can walk anywhere on the PLU campus in five minutes.
Credit Transfer Issues:

Course Name/Rating:	Italian 250
Course Department:
Instructor:	Silvia Francalanza
Instruction Language:	Italian
Comments:	This Professor is incredible and everyone should attempt to take a class from her! She was definitely my favorite teacher in Milan.
Credit Transfer Issues: