Italy an Experiance of Groth and LIfe! Past Review
By Patricia C (Photography., Marywood University) for
Studio Arts College International (SACI): Florence - SACI in Florence
It was an experiance like no other. I would not have had the same opertunities i was givwen in Italy in America. IOfeel like the experivance changes you an forces you to grow whether this is realized or not. i know for myslef i could live on my own and be ok, but this program really helped me to relize that i can take care of myself and survive.
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. |
overall i felt that i was held to the same atandard at SACI as i would be at my home University of Marywood. The only course i found to be a lot of work was the Italian I course, but i have nothing to compare this to seeing as how it was th first time i have taken a language course at the college leval. 15 credits was a lot of work of being abroud, or maybe for me it was the combination of 15 credits and 5 extramly different classes. but overall the school and experiance was amazing. I enjoyed the layed back feelling of SACI and the teachers treating us more as friends then as students but knwing when to step in with instruction and guidance. |
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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? |
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| * Food: |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
the field trips through the art history classes were amazing, and SACI deffinatly made it easy to meetand become friends with the other people in the program, but it would have been nice if they had helped us to meet people living there in the city outside of our program. (like locals) |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
The school was veryhelpful in allour needs weather it was questions about where do i buy cold medicine to how do i get to blank location buy train. I is always a good idea to not walk alone by yourself at night anywhere you are but overall i felt very safe in Florence, there was never i tim i was unconfortable and unprotected. It is always good advice to be aware of your suroundings and be in a group of peolel. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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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? | on groceries i would spend about 10 to 20 euro a week and then buy the ocational sandwitch or snake on the go, but i did not find it expensive to buy my food. It might take a few trips to different grocery stores to find which is the least expensive. I did not eatout very often because i wanted to be smart with spending my money, but there were plenty of afordable places. It was helpful to use the student hand book and travle guides to find good inespensive food. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | DOn't go overboard with buying things set a limit for yourslef before you even go over seas, if you wait till the end of the semester you will find it easier to shop because you will have had time to find the things that you like for yourself andto think about what you would like to bring back for others. The only unexpected expense was travel i did while i was there, but at the same time if you search for cheap airlines, and hotels or hostles everything can be done super afordably. There were no fees i was not informed of. |
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 |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
Within taking my course of Italian I it would have been very helpful to have a speaking partner. I had requested one but never given any names or people to contact. It would have been better if this was built into the program and within the first couple week we were given speaking partners instead of it being a voluntary action since not everyone was able to recive a partner or adequate speaking time within the classroom. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Deffinatly make a list of expectations you have for yourself and make sure you get them done. Such as i want to go here or see this, it will help you plan your free time and have the experiance you want. If you don;t do this become friends with people who have there own list make sure you experiance everything you want to. It would be terrible to come homesaying i wish i travled more or i wish i got to see this or that. Do what you want and fill in the extra time with sper of the moment exploration. |
