Explore Florence, Italy with World Class Programs

One of the instructors told me to write in my review that this program made my dreams come true, and though he was joking, I would be remiss if I did not admit it to be true. This was my second year of doing an academic summer program abroad, and this by far surpassed the last program. There were only two other students on the program with me, which was unusual for them, but this made the experience all the more enjoyable. The more intimate group was completed by three instructors, two of whom were full-time and all of whom were more fun than any teachers I've had so far. They did an excellent job of walking the line of both friend and instructor so that I felt both supervised and at ease around them. Though only there for two weeks, I found that I grew a lot as a person and conquered a lot of my fears, particularly socially. My one friend on the program even commented that I was much more confident than I had been previously that week. I tend to overanticipate things and come up with far too lofty ideals and this is one of the rare occasions in which all of my expectations were actually realised. This trip was transformative for me—and yes it did make my dreams come true.

The Florence trip with World Class Programs was one of the best experiences of my life. I learned so many interesting facts and saw so many things in Florence that I never would have learned if I had not gone on this program. I think one of the best parts of the program is that we weren't just tourists in Florence- we actaully lived there for two weeks. I knew my way around and knew so many little tidbits about the city that it started to feel like a home. The staff on the program were also absoulty amazing. This had been the first time that I had traveled alone so my mom and I were a little nervous, but the staff was extremely supportive and lovely. They were so kind and approachable and always there to help. We could joke around with them and they always valued our thoughts and opinions. I really really enjoyed all of the classes, excursions and activities that we did. Each helped show me aspects of Italian Culture and futher my education on Italian art and history, and even a bit of language. I made amazing friends who I grew so close to in such a sort amount of time and I can't wait to keep seeing them even after the program ends. Even though this is very cliche, this program was eveything that I hoped for and more. I would absolutly recommend this program to any teenager who is interested in learning and having a great time. World Class Programs made all my dreams come true :)

As a 16 year old girl, this trip was my first time traveling out of the country alone. Not only did I make some great friends while abroad, but I cannot stress enough how incredible the staff was at ensuring I was having an enjoyable time. All the staff loved kids and were relatively young themselves, making it easy to develop a personal relationship with all of them. The activities were worked around what we (the students) wanted to do, which I personally loved. Having taken the fine art and drawing course, I can say I greatly improved in all aspects of my artistic abilities while also having a relaxing, pleasant time doing so. The teacher was the best and made the classes so much fun. 10/10 program, would definitely recommend this experience to anyone looking into it :)

World Class Programs was really great! I'd travelled abroad with my family before but I wanted to go alone before I went to college. My parents felt safer knowing I was with a group of people my age and instructors that were with us the whole time. Some of my best friends were made on this trip. It's amazing how close you become over just 3 weeks! If you don't do anything else with your summer, do this. It's so worth it!

I'd taken two years of Italian before I decided I wanted to go abroad. My mom found World Class Programs and I attended the full 4 weeks of the program. When I went back to school the next fall, my Italian teacher encouraged me to test out of the grade because of how fluent I had become! I was even worried before I went on the program that my Italian wasn't good enough but there were kids in my Italian Language class that hadn't even taken Italian before. The instructor gave each of us our own curriculum based off where we were in our proficiency so it didn't feel competitive and we were just working on improving ourselves the whole time. Most of our classes were outside and we were barely in the classroom! It's such a different experience than I've had before! My suggestion for future students is to go with an open mind! You're gonna meet people from all over the world, not just the US or Italy. Also, BRING WALKING SHOES! I only brought sandals and the 3rd day of the trip I asked if I could go buy shoes so my Italian instructor went with me and had me only speak Italian in the store as one of my assignments! (I wasn't quite as proficient then haha)

I had the best time of my life on this trip! I'm so glad I didn't stay at home and have the same summer I had the year before. I've always wanted to travel so when I heard about World Class Programs at school I did a little research and convinced my parents to let me go and I'm so glad I did! You spend 4 weeks with kids your own age in the middle of Florence in this cool apartment! We took weekend trips to other Italian cities too! I didn't know any Italian when I went but it didn't matter. Everyone was so accommodating there including our instructors. I will never forget the summer I had and I can't wait to go back to Italy!