Trip of a Lifetime Past Review
By Abbey F (Public Relations, University of Georgia) - abroad from 05/11/2013 to 06/14/2015 with
University of Georgia, Discover Abroad: Australia and New Zealand Maymester Program
A whole new perspective on life!
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The work is challenging enough to feel like you earned your 7-10 credits but theres enough time to enjoy the country you're in. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The staff is the best. They made my program that much more enjoyable knowing we had good teachers. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The housing situation was a nice simple and most importantly clean place to sleep, store luggage and bathe. Having hardly spent anytime in the room I didn't need a 5 star experience, just a comfortable place to sleep at night. |
| * Food: |
As these programs provide over 70% of the meals, it makes spending less much easier! But if you're a health nut you might have to settle for Nutella and some cereal in the morning! I personally had no problem but others did! |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Discover Abroad is intentional in ensuring that you have plenty of contact with local culutre and inhabitants of the country. In Australia we learned all about aboroginal culture in one of their former homes, in NZ we spent an entire day with the Maori people and learned about their old way of life and how they have adapted and in Fiji we did an overnight stay with the local village. Even when we weren't at the village, our lodging was fully run by Fijians and it gave us ample opportunities to interact with them and learn more about their culture and what kind of work they do outside the village. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
We were given health insurance cards right away and although I didn't experience any incidents a student cut his toe and our leaders and local doctors were quick to take care of him. I knew if I did experience some health problem while in country that I would be taken care of. |
| * Safety: |
I never felt unsafe at all. Safety is the staffs number one priority. Times are stictly set to be when and where and this is incredibly stressed at the orientation so students coming into the country already know what to expect. Not to forget how helpful the locals are everywhere if you find yourself needing directions. |
| 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) |
Most meals a are provided except theres a few time you have to get dinner by yourself, so anything else you spend is on souviners which it totally ones discretion. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | Probably about $50 a week, hard to remember because this was 2 years ago but it wasn't a lot |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Don't buy things you don't need, simple as that! |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | No |
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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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? | 10+ |
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? | That I wouldn't want to come back to the US |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Avid AdventurerThe wardrobe you packed was better suited for a semester of camping than club hopping. Outdoorsy, you might forgo a crazy night out for an early all-day adventure. You'd rather take in the rich culture of an old town than the metropolis of a modern city, but for you getting off the grid is ideal. |
