Choosing Global Ed was the best decision I have ever made! Past Review

By (Liberal Arts, General Studies, University of Houston) - abroad from 05/15/2014 to 06/29/2016 with

GlobalEd: Seville - Summer Internship Programs

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
I did the summer study abroad/ medical internship in Seville with Global Ed. I want to start off by saying that it was such an amazing experience and choosing to go abroad with Global Ed is certainly one of the best decisions I have ever made. I didn't want the program to end and now that it has, I am looking for any excuse to return to Spain. Seville is an amazing city with so much to offer. It has a lot of cool restaurants and pubs, great nightlife, beautiful sightseeing and a very rich and charming culture. It is the perfect size-- big enough to where there is plenty to do, and small enough where everyone is very friendly and helpful if you are lost. The locals are very nice and there are also a lot of young students and travelers. Steven and Rosa were also amazing! They were always there if I wanted to talk about any concerns with my internship or even if I just needed someone to talk to. They were so welcoming and comforting that it really made my experience much less nerve wrecking. I still keep in touch with them as they really just became great friends and mentors. Seville is a really safe city (even if you are walking home alone at 4 in the morning) so that was another great thing about the location. The architecture is really beautiful especially being so close to the Cathedral and the Plaza de Espana. You are able to walk everywhere you need to go and the taxis are really cheap even if you don't feel like walking. One of my favorite parts of my stay was walking through the beautiful narrow streets (even lost sometimes) just exploring the city. My apartment was located in Triana about a 5 minute walk from the hospital where I was doing my internship. The location was great, super close, clean, and my roommates were very nice and welcoming and helpful! In my medical internship, I did a lot of shadowing and sometimes helped out with minor things that weren't too intimidating. The doctors were all very sweet and helpful and were there to teach me anything I wanted to know. I was able to shadow nurses as well and was able to learn a lot in terms of what I wanted to study myself. I was able to shadow a colonoscopy surgery just to see what it was like and I also spend some times in the neonatal unit simply because I had told them that I had an interest in neonatal. They were very flexible and keen to making sure I had a great experience tailored to my needs and requests. The program also gave us all long weekends to allow for personal travelling as well as planned excursions with the Global Ed group. These were phenomenal and we traveled to places I probably would not have known to go to on my own. It was a truly special experience. When choosing what program to go abroad with, Global Ed really stood out to me because of several factors: it was the most affordable for what you were getting, and Steven had reached out to me personally as well as Nicole offering to answer any questions that I had and it really showed me that they were going to be a more personal and quaint program than some of the others I had looked into. And I was certainly right in that aspect. I miss Seville dearly as well as Steven and Rosa, but I will definitely be returning the first chance I get. It was amazingly worth while and I gained much more than I can put into words. I gained the experience of a lifetime, improved my Spanish, integrated into a beautiful and charming culture, made amazing friends, gained confidence, and got to travel through Europe.

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? 2 weeks - 1 month

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

* Host Country Program Administration

On-site administration of your program

* Housing:

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

* Food:

* Social & Cultural Integration:

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

* 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

Without a doubt I would choose Global Ed again and again

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
How much did the program encourage you to use the language?

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use 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
How many hours per day did you use the language?

Other Program Information

* Where did you live?

Select all that apply

  • Apartment
* Who did you live with?

Select all that apply

  • International Students
* Who did you take classes with?

Select all that apply

  • Americans
About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with?

A Look Back

* What did you like most about the program?
  • Steven and Rosa were amazing
  • Travelling
  • Seville is such a beautiful city
* What could be improved?
  • honestly nothing
* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? I wish that I would have saved more money in the time leading up to it so that I could have spent more on travelling and perhaps arrived in Europe before the start of the program so that I could have more time to travel.