Conservation and adventure outside in the most beautiful place Past Review
By A student (Williams College) - abroad from 09/16/2019 to 12/09/2019 with
Round River Conservation Studies - Patagonia, Chile Program
I learned ways of existing and learning that are fulfilling and outside the high-pressure normal college environment. Also Patagonia is beautiful.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Academics were not particularly rigorous but were thoughtful and relevant and it was important that everyone understood. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
If you love tents! I love my tent so my living arrangements were great. |
| * Food: |
Ate a lot of basic foods, in the front country because of what's available so far south and in the backcountry because of what is practical. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
If you try, you can make small opportunities for yourself to interact with the local culture, but we are very much in conversation with mostly each other. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
Health issues were prioritized and taken care of efficiently and thoroughly. |
| * Safety: |
We were in such small towns that urban safety concerns were not very relevant. Safety in the outdoor context was taken seriously. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
I was looking for a more relaxed semester spending a ton of time outside and learning about place and science and that is exactly what I got! |
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) |
You could pretty easily spend less than $50 the entire time if you wanted. |
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 |
You'll be fine if you don't speak any Spanish, but you'll also have opportunities to speak if you already know how - much of it is what you make it. There's no structured language learning. |
| 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? | Intermediate |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | Advanced grammar |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? |
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? | The program is naturally juggling conservation and student objectives and sometimes that means sacrifices from one or the other when they don't line up perfectly. |
