Panrimo

Panrimo afforded a small provider experience to access the American Business School in the heart of Paris. This short-term summer program was great to accomplish some business courses in a condensed format. The pre-departure support was great and I appreciated the a la carte option since I was a student on a budget. My only complaint was that the on-site support was not as reliable as I would have expected. Other than that, I was very happy with my program.

As cheesy as the title may be, it is the honest truth. My time in Prague was perfect. I completely fell in love with city, the people, the culture... Everything about it was a perfect match for me. My neighborhood was extremely safe and residential but also close to the city center. Our flat was clean, modern, safe, and huge (I had my own bedroom and bathroom)!
Panrimo made the process as easy as it could possibly be. All of my paperwork was a cinch to complete with the help of the advisers (Thank you, Michael!) and they made me feel completely prepared and safe. Panrimo also has advisers in Prague for you to ask any questions and attend trips, give advice of where to go, help with travel... really anything you could possibly need.
The city itself is magnificently beautiful and has a small/communal sense about it, despite the fact there are over 1 million residents in Prague. I walked everywhere and city transport made life so easy (and I am one to get lost very easily).
I was able to travel to 10 different countries and a handful of cities within the Czech Republic.
This experience was everything I had hoped for and I wish I could do it again! I really could write a book about how amazing and magical Prague is, how much I would like everyone to visit it, and upload all 5,000 pictures that I took while I was there.

The placement process for Panrimo was frustrating. There was a lack of communication and a mix up with the length of my program. I had originally applied and paid a deposit for a 16 week program and found out three months later that I was only going to be interning for 12 weeks. I was not placed at my internship or given my housing placement until two weeks before I left for Madrid. Once I arrived in Madrid my onsite coordinator was very helpful in showing me my apartment and how to get to the city center. I lived on the outskirts of Madrid quite far from where I worked, about a 35 minute commute. I also lived alone, which was great when I had friends come visit, but bad when I was alone when my bathroom flooded or when my power went out. My internship at Bike Spain Tours was great, all my coworkers were very kind and accommodating. I learned a lot from this experience and definitely gained an even stronger sense of independence, but if I did not already have experience living in Spain I think I would have felt very isolated.

My time in Prague changed me for the better, entirely! Panrimo's support before, during, and after my program took loads of stress off of me so I could better enjoy my time abroad. Strolling the cobblestone streets of Prague instilled in me an appreciation for living on such old land that so many Greats inhabited before me. My perspective of life shifted as I became more aware of how big and diverse the world is! Without the help of Panrimo and their wonderful advisors, I would have never had an opportunity such as this. I felt as though the program was organized and clear and I was comfortable knowing I had the support, feedback and advice of my Panrimo advisors and coordinators at my disposal. Because Panrimo is a smaller, more intimate study abroad provider, I felt like I was important to them. This was also a comfort because I know it is possible with larger providers to become lumped and lost among hundreds of other study abroad students. There were a handful of other Panrimo students with me there and we did participate in planned group activities sometimes, but I also felt like I had the freedom to take trips of my own and create my own schedule, which was very nice!

I couldn't have asked for a better experience living abroad in Madrid. That being said, I know that my experience here with Panrimo would not suit everyone. Panrimo provided me with the most amazing Madrid contact (Laura) who was always available if I needed help, and made the excursions culturally significant as well as fun. Madrid is a fantastic city, so I was surrounded by opportunities to get involved with other international students and the local community. Unlike most study abroad programs from the U.S., I was not part of a large group of American students and lived in an apartment with Erasmus students. This was great for me because I am fine with taking the initiative to meet people/socialize, but I can see where this would be out of some students' comfort zones. That being said, I think that one of the most valuable aspects of my experience has been the variety of different people I've met from all over the world--something that a lot of my friends in programs have missed out on. The living situation put me in the perfect location at the heart of the city.
One of the biggest issues I had with the program was Panrimo's 'Hispanic Studies' contact at the Universidad de Carlos III, who provided hardly any support. She made multiple errors in documents that were required for me to obtain my Visa, which led to the process being more challenging than it had to be. My classes at the Universidad de Carlos III were in English and not easy. Many of the courses I took were translated from Spanish and taught by professors who really shouldn't have been teaching in English. This communication gap in combination with the Spanish style of teaching definitely made advanced subjects harder. I was grateful to be able to continue my degree studies in Madrid, though, and it was fantastic being able to meet people in my major from all over the world.