iXperience

The Investment Finance course was phenomenal. The teacher, Brent Shapiro, is beyond knowledgeable in this field and super approachable. I learned a lot throughout the six weeks and am eager to apply my knowledge to the real world. The staff was really awesome. I viewed them more like friends then superiors and plan to keep in touch. The hostel we stayed in was really great. They offered activities each evening for guests and locals. The lounge was a great place to hang out and grab a drink. The food in Tel Aviv is great. There are plenty of options within walking distance. .

This program made learning finance actually fun because of the awesome teacher, Brent. It started off slow with accounting and excel, but ended with a private equity cash flow waterfall. The city of Tel Aviv was great and there was always something going on. We got to explore the city and go out whenever we wanted to. Class and the internship we were each placed in were a lot of work, but we always had time at night or during the weekends to have fun. I would recommend this program to anyone interested in finance and wants a non traditional experience. The resume and networking help is also great. They want students to succeed and give us the tools to do so. I was given the opportunity to network with alumni from the top investment banks and companies in the world. Anyone who comes from a non-target school should consider this program.

Last summer, I participated in an abroad course and internship with iXperience. I did it in Cape Town with the Product Management course and it is one of the programs that prepared me to secure my internship at EY this upcoming summer! I spent my first four weeks developing my own product idea with a team of four students who I still keep in contact with today. The next four weeks, I completed an internship in the fashion industry and was able to organize and watch an African fashion show by the end of the last week! These experiences are what allowed me to find my passion for technology and I was able to do it while in the most beautiful place in the world. In addition to the academic portion of iXperience, I was lucky enough to do so many outdoor adventures like climbing Table Mountain, going to penguin beaches, bungee jumping, shark cage diving, and more! This was the best way I could have spent my summer and I think it is a great way for anyone to spend theirs!

In this program, you get to take thought-provoking classes that are useful for future careers. For example, I took a course on iOS development in Swift. I had little coding experience before this course but by the end of it, I had built my very own app! I got stuck a lot along the way but the TA's and instructors were always there to help.
Additionally, you get to meet friendly people from all over the world. When I went on the program, there were students from UVA, Michigan, UCLA, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, and many more universities. On top of that, there were a lot of international students from various countries. I became friends with many of these students and enjoyed meeting all these people.
Lastly, you get to go on awesome adventures. I went sandboarding, hiking, surfing, paragliding, and much more. Cape Town truly has so much to do and is a beautiful city.

So quick background on me: I was a college junior majoring in a non-business and non-tech field and I remember frantically searching for a summer opportunity that would educate me in these two sectors, while simultaneously ensuring that I would have funnest time. Honestly, it's really competitive out there - getting an interview, landing that internship amongst a pool of talented students. The whole process is daunting. When I discovered i_Xperience, it was basically the perfect trifecta that met my three needs for an unforgettable summer internship:

1. learning for the sake of learning
2. hands-on professional experience
3. cultural/ personal exploration

Simply put, i_Xperience did THAT. I spent a month learning about the fundamentals of Product Management, worked on a team to design and pitch our digital product, and spent the second month applying what I learned at a South African e-commerce company. When I go into interviews, I milk this experience because it was one of the professionally and personally internships in my college careers. Being a part of i_Xperience has given me an edge and a story to talk about. Beyond the professional development, Cape Town is literally adult Disneyland. I lived on the beach in Camps Bay, ate really good, did something out of my comfort zone every day, and met some of the most brilliant people across the globe.

If you're in the same boat as me- APPLY.