Abroad101: Study Abroad Reviews

The best experience of my life Past Review

By (Early Childhood and Elementary Education, University of Northern Iowa) - abroad from 07/09/2014 to 08/14/2014 with

University of Northern Iowa: Dongguan - UNI Summer Camp in China

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
I learned a lot about myself. I had never been that far away from home and my family before so it was definitely a new experience for me. I also learned a lot about who I am going to be as a teacher from teaching the chinese students at camp. It was definitely worth while. Especially because I am going to school to become a teacher.

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? None

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

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)

Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? $300
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? Just save a little bit of each paycheck you receive.

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component? No
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? None
How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? Beginner

Other Program Information

* Where did you live?

Select all that apply

  • Hotel
* Who did you live with?

Select all that apply

  • Americans
* 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?
  • The experience
  • The people I traveled with
  • All the site seeing
* What could be improved?
  • relaying information to us
  • giving a list of things for us to do in each city
  • the food at camp
* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? I wish I would have known how much money to save up for on expenses other than the trip. I also wish we would have had our lessons to teach laid out better. A lot of the topics we were told we had to teach had no content on our flash drives so we had to plan everything ourselves and because of how busy we were, we didn't know far enough in advance about it to be able to print things for our students or even have adequate time to come up with a thoroughly thought out lesson.

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 Outright Urbanite
A social butterfly, you're happiest in bustling cities with hip people, and took advantage of all it had to offer. You enjoyed the nightlife, and had fun going out dancing, and socializing with friends. Fun-loving and dressed to the nines, you enjoyed discovering new restaurants, shops, cafes, and bars in your host country.