Service-learning and Language in Siena with SIS Gap Year

My gap year program at SIS has been for sure one of the most meaningful and productive experiences of my life. I found the program to be very unique as it really gets you to experience the local culture by volunteering at local NGOs/projects, and living with a host family. The teachers are great, and I saw a lot of improvement in my Italian in a couple of months. Classes are very hands-on and include many visits to museums, like the Uffizi museum in Florence.
Siena is beautiful and SIS is located at an amazing spot, so it is really easy to get around the city.

Siena Italian Studies is nothing short of amazing. I attended SIS for a semester during my gap year and it was the best experience of my life. I was able to learn Italian extremely quickly through the community service programs they organize, through my loving host family and through the social events organized with Italian students. Siena is extremely safe and still a place I can call home. After SIS, I majored in Italian at my university in the US. After my degree in the US, I even decided to go back to Italy and pursue my Masters for two years in Milan. SIS is a major reason why I was able to get that opportunity. Without the advanced intercultural skills I gained through SIS, living in Milan would have been much more difficult. I cannot stress enough that SIS is an incredible program that runs so smoothly by an incredible staff and faculty of amazing professors!