SIT Nepal Past Review
By Shannon W (Anthropology., Wellesley College) for
SIT Study Abroad: Nepal - Tibetan and Himalayan Peoples
It was definitely worthwhile and rewarding, but I did have certain complaints about the program. I was pretty sure of what I wanted to do with my future prior to the program, and the program confirmed my goals. I want to study anthropology at the graduate level, and having field research experience will definitely be an asset for my future goals.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 6 months+ |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
It was wonderful to be able to travel, learn a new language, and meet students very different from myself. I would definitely recommend the experience, especially since the credits transferred easily to my home institution. Also, another advantage to the program is the ease of getting credit for independent research. However, the program did not meet my expectations in how much support (i.e. help with planning logistics, gaining access to communities and organizations) students were given during this research experience. Also, I felt that, as an anthropology student, SIT's staff did not adequately engage with broad models of human research beyond interview-based projects. Also, I would say that there was too much time spent in lectures, which were not always engaging. However, I had a wonderful semester; I was able to learn a language not offered at many colleges, to hear some wonderful speakers, to meet students from other colleges in America and from other countries, to undertake international independent research as an undergraduate, all of which greatly contributed to my personal and academic growth. The feedback from program staff was not usually helpful, and the grading was reasonable but on the easy-side. |
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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? |
My host family was wonderful, and their home was comfortable and safe. |
| * Food: |
I am a vegetarian and had no trouble being accomodated. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
We went on an excursion to Maratika (Haleshi), a Buddhist pilgrimmage site in rural Nepal. We also went on a three week excursion to Bhutan. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Although there is a state department travel advisory, it seemed extremely safe and I did not witness or hear of anything that seemed out of the ordinary. |
| 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) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | I spent about $200 total the entire semester, outside of my stipend for my independent research period. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | The program does not cover the costs of the independent research period. You are given a stipend, which varies by program. Ours was about $500, and was about enough to cover all of my expenses. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | none |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
You could practice with host families, and with members of the community (shop keepers, waiters, etc.). The Tibetan community in Nepal did use Tibetan, although outside the community it was mostly Nepali. Most people had some knowledge of English, but would have rather spoken Tibetan. My only complaints with the language component were that: 1) it was really only one month of classroom language learning, while I had expected more, 2) there was so much time spent in lectures, it was hard to find time to practice with host families, and 3) we were not taught any grammar beyond specific sentence constructions, which made it very difficult to advance on one's own outside of the classroom. There was also no systematic classroom instruction in vocabulary. |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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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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