CIS Abroad

During my four months in Cusco, Peru, I was able to gain experiences and memories I never thought possible. I studied abroad with CISabroad as my program, and the support I received was amazing. Every question I had before leaving for my trip was thoroughly answered, and I felt more than prepared. While in Peru, I loved being able to take courses that were drastically different from those that are traditionally offered here in the U.S., such as Healing and Shamanism. I was able to travel all over the country and experience different ecosystems including the desert in Huacachina, the Amazon rain forest in Puerto Maldonado, the coast in Paracas, the cloud forest at Machu Picchu, and various Incan ruins throughout the country. We also hiked (all the way up to 14,000 feet!), went horseback riding, and volunteered at schools, an animal shelter and an orphanage. I think the best part about studying abroad is learning to love the culture shock and being in new situations you may never have thought you’d be in but are so glad you had the privilege to experience. Overall, studying abroad was one of the best experiences of my life.

I did the CISabroad Semester in Limerick program during the Fall 2019 semester. It was an incredible experience and I loved it so much that I am hoping to go back for graduate school. Some of the positive aspects of going to the University of Limerick through CISabroad was the assistance with pre-departure stuff, advising throughout the semester and after, and having a separate orientation with just CISabroad students. CISabroad made preparing to leave for Ireland so easy. They emailed you many times with detailed instructions and made sure you understood everything that was required before leaving to study abroad. They gave you specific times to book flights, took care of health insurance, paid your deposit, and got on campus housing for you. This was all so helpful and I felt like it made departure a lot less stressful and allowed me to worry less about leaving my home country. They even arranged for a bus to pick us up from Shannon airport and drop us off at our accommodation. I am thankful that we had CISabroad staff available for help throughout the semester as well to help with any questions. It was nice to know I always had a point of contact. The separate orientation was helpful as well, because although it felt like we had learned most of the information at University of Limerick's orientation, it was nice to hear it again in a smaller group setting. Meeting with other CISabroad students also allowed me to quickly find friends and to have more people to contact if I had questions. Where I felt CISabroad fell flat was with the planned excursions. Although the program did provide us with a few free meals and CISabroad dinners, the students in my program were under the impression that CISabroad would plan trips for us. We were told that there were 2 students in Dublin who would come on these trips with us, but that never happened. Granted, our on site advisor got another job, and we can't blame her for accepting a great opportunity, we felt that CISabroad didn't offer a good solution to this. We were provided a new advisor, however, they did not work for CISabroad and were instead a member of the University of Limerick staff. There solution for providing trips for us, was to cover the cost of any trips we went on through the University of Limerick's Student Life. While it was nice that these costs were being covered, it didn't add up to much. Trips typically were around 30 euros and we usually had to pay for our own meals while on these trips. The cost of food wasn't covered so, overall, we didn't feel we got our money's worth. Plus, these trips were open to the entire school, so we didn't feel like CISabroad followed through with planning trips just for us. Aside from the planned excursions, I feel CISabroad did their best in trying to come up with a solution to a problem that arose so quickly. It was an unfortunate situation, and we felt a little cheated out of excursions. That being said, I still was able to travel a lot and saw plenty of places on my own. The planned excursions would've been nice, but sometimes you just have to roll with the punches and adapt. Me and a few CISabroad students ended up planning trips amongst ourselves. It wasn't ideal but it turned out to be very fun. I will always be grateful for my time abroad and I have found a new love for travel. There are so many more countries I want to go to and I don't think I'll want to ever want to stop seeing new places. I didn't get everything I wanted out of CISabroad, but I do think it is a great program. They help a lot with advising, planning, and answering questions. I felt much more comfortable using a third party program than planning on my own. I'm sure excursions have been better in the past and will be better in the future. CISabroad did what they could given the challenges of trying to find a new advisor last minute. Things happen and they tried to offer a solution. I would recommend CISabroad for someone looking to study abroad because of how helpful they were and how easy they made transitioning into life in Ireland. Overall, whatever way you end up studying abroad, you'll have an amazing experience regardless.

My study abroad experience was more than I could have ever hoped for. It really challenged me and taught me to be independent, while allowing me to see so much of Australia and form so many lifelong friendships. CIS Abroad made everything so easy and stress free. The pre-planned excursions gave me something to look forward too and allowed me to truly experience Australia without all the stress of planning every single thing I wanted to do. I cannot express enough how grateful I am for the CIS Abroad staff and for the program as a whole for facilitating so many incredible friendships and memories. Newcastle itself was a dream and being only a short train ride from Sydney, I was never bored. Now i'm just trying to figure out how I can get myself back there!

Going abroad in Scotland was the time of my life. I was so nervous to leave the normalcy of my life, but I am glad that I was able to push myself out of my comfort zone and go for it. I was able to have amazing experiences that I could never have dreamed of doing, and was able to travel all over Europe, even on a college student budget. I felt safe and comfortable in Edinburgh, and was able to navigate the city very easily even though I am not used to being in cities. I made amazing friends that will last a lifetime. I hope that everyone takes the opportunity to go abroad as it was the most amazing time of my life!

This experience was unique because of the location. Sorrento is a small town unlike any other with the breathtaking views, and the community is supportive. I could walk to the beach every day before or after class and easily walk to the grocery store. It was my best pick to have the easiest transition from home to abroad. I felt safe as a woman even walking alone at night. The professors loved the classes they taught, and I got to take an Elementary Italian course which really helped me learn more of the language. One of the best moments of the semester was finally learning enough Italian to be able to order at a restaurant. I could tell the locals were happy that I was trying to fit into their culture. It was AWESOME! This program is great because it checked off all of my boxes. It is very easy to get around and had all the benefits of a big school with a small town authentic Italian feel.