Program Reviews

It's quite interesting to see the world from another's point of view. When I went abroad to Costa Rica, the Rio Olympics were ongoing and preparation for Presidential election was commencing. I learned what others thought of American politics-many mixed opinions (as is life in general). In addition to the culture (tica time, gallo pinto, big families), I learned quite a bit about myself. I found that I enjoyed spending time with people, merely just talking. I learned that I loved hugs because even if I didn't know all the nuances of the words "I love you" in Spanish, hugs could convey so much more. I learned that my definition of family could be greatly expanded to not only those who cared for me in my home country, but those who I truly allow to come into my life and who embrace me into their own.

My experience studying abroad in Paraguay had been a wonderful experience because I wasn't only learning and studying Spanish but I was able to be involved in the culture and life of the residents. I had a family and they will forever be my second family. I keep in contact with them every now and then I would update them on what is going on in my life and they do the same. I have also made many friends and they are great and also live abroad. While studying my professors where very helpful and divided the time from learning Spanish and learning the history of Paraguay. The other participants, my friends and myself had a chance to see historic sites or just natural sites while studying. I engaged more with the people and discovered how I can be challenged and have fun with my experience. You also get to do things with your family and have personal, meaningful relationships with the people you meet.

I would strongly suggest that participants are given more freedom. I wasn’t allowed to go nearly anywhere until February of my exchange which did not leave much time to truly explore my surroundings. But what I did explore I absolutely love. I wasn’t able to see much more than the city where I lived and two other regions and in a country like India it should really be facilitated for students to see more for a complete understanding of Indian culture because there are so many.

I absolutely loved my time abroad in Finland! It was the most amazing and educational experience of my entire life and I grew so much even though it was a relatively short 5 week trip. I made lasting friendships with my entire host family and the other students who traveled with me to Finland.
While I was located primarily in Helsinki, students may end up living in cities all over Finland depending on where their host family lives. Students will likely have the opportunity to visit a summer cottage, if their family owns one, as well! Either way everyone will end up with a unique and life changing experience.
I would absolutely encourage anyone considering this trip to just go for it, and to try as many new things as possible while abroad!

In the Summer of 2017 I packed up a very small bag and headed to New York for my initial student orientation at Long Island University. The orientation was very relaxed and helped to introduce me to my fellow travelers.

We then proceeded to fly across the globe to Delhi, India, where we were greeted by AFS staff and taken to a nearby resort. Our living quarters were quite luxurious and the orientation beyond thorough.

When the program in my host city began, I was without much support from staff or volunteers. This was not the case for most people, and most students had a wonderful AFS family in their host cities. Despite my independence, I managed to create my own network of friends- both foreign and Indian.

AFS India was a smaller entity than many of their other country's operations, so they were visibly limited as to involvement. Despite their size, however, they made sure that we as students were always safe and secure. There was never a moment that I felt lost in the system or in danger.

If I could do the program over again, I would be more vocal to the few volunteers that were with me in my host city regarding the challenges that I was facing, and if anyone is considering embarking on a similar journey, I encourage them to do the same.

India as a location is phenomenal. The people are incredibly diverse and unbelievably welcoming. However, unless you look like an Indian, you will always be noticed, practically wherever you go. It was a difficult adjustment for me, but I soon came to terms with the innocent curiosity that the people had for foreigners.

The food is rumored to be spicy and hard to digest. At first, I agreed with this rumor whole-heartedly. However, after a mere week I came to enjoy it. Compared to American food, it has little diversity, which is also an adjustment. High carb consumption and low calorie intake are also difficult diet factors that I had to adjust to. The taste is great, but it can leave you feeling malnourished to an extent. Be prepared to bring protein powders, and know that Amazon India is a great resource for resupply.

All in all, I saw things that changed my perspective on humanity itself, all the while making relationships that I know will go on for a lifetime.

At the end of my program, we had what felt like two end-stay orientations, the first in Delhi where we spent time reflecting on the past year, and the second visiting the Taj Mahal. Both experiences went smoothly and I regard the memory as a whole as the most fascinating experience of my life thus far, and the beginning of a life-long desire to experience more colorful cultures.

Hello, my name is Angel Reyes and I was part of the 2016-17 Study Abroad program in Japan and may I say it was absolutely amazing! First off, everything was so carefully planned out and the staff was so nice and caring. All the time I was with them I always felt secure and happy as if I was at home, it was only until I had settled in my japanese parents’ house that it actually hit me that I was in Japan(yes I call them my parents)! Everything was so cool and amazing but there was some things that were kind of off. For example, there would be these reunions with all the AFS people and students and they were cool and all but the activities that were held there were not good. It was kind of boring but it was fun to see everyone! That is actually about it everything else was perfect! If you do read this I want to ask this favor, can you communicate with Mana Hashimoto and the people from San Antonio, Marc Patsnier are the best, nicest, awesomest people ever! Without them, my experience in Japan wouldn’t have happened or been as awesome as it was! Thank you so much!

This abroad experience in high school was formative in my growth as a teenager. I now work in international exchanges, because of the overwhelmingly positive experience I had on my semester abroad with AFS. Intercultural experience is so important - I learned so much as an exchange student, and while it wasn't all easy by any stretch of the imagination, through the challenges of going abroad I grew as a person.

I had a great year abroad with AFS Japan. I was in the Tokyo-Chuo chapter which gave me an extremely nice host family and placed me in an amazing private school. I was able to travel around Japan with my host family and school. My schoolmates were super kind and I still like to exchange letters with them. This program cemented my love for Japan and I can't wait until I am able to return to Japan.
This was a truly wonderful experience and I strongly believe that this program hugely helped me when it was time to apply for colleges.

Going to France had been a dream of mine for years, as I was taking French in school. Fortunately, my high school is very involved with AFS and their exchange programs, and in 2016, the school was awarded a scholarship for one student to go on an AFS Global Prep program which was two weeks long. My French teacher and a local AFS advocate met and decided to award me the scholarship, so I got to go in the summer of 2016.

In July, I met up with other AFS students going on the program at JFK Airport in New York for our flight over. Once we arrived, we were amazed at how beautiful Nice was. The place we were staying at had gorgeous villas on the mountains, and it was picturesque. The downside to this beautiful place was that we were not allowed to venture out to explore, so even though we were in Nice, we did not get to experience as much of France as we had hoped. The other disappointment came in the form of the food. We were not allowed to be out of the location for our meals, and the food they served us was not exactly French, and it was barely passing as food.

Overall though, I was able to meet so many awesome people and make friends with many others from all over Europe (as many other students at this program were non-AFS, European students). I believe that the program no longer exists, and I would not recommend it to my friends, but it was an incredible experience. I still was able to learn some French, make friends, see wonderful views, and get a taste of what France has to offer. However, I would love to go back to France as a regular traveler and actually experience the culture.

India, as cheesy as it sounds, was completely life changing. A lot of my personal growth has occurred since I have returned back to the U.S., my home country. While I was in India, I was able to meet so many different people, including exchange students from other countries. This international experience was not like traveling to Europe over the summer with my family, but it truly immersed me in Indian culture and encouraged me to test my own beliefs and values. Often, I came across a person I did not agree with. In the beginning I would always try and prove to them why my opinion was correct, and theirs was wrong. Throughout my exchange, I learned how ineffective this was. Instead, my goal of a conversation would be to help them understand why I believed what I believed as well as for me to understand their thinking. This is one of the most critical things I learned from my time in India. How to not only tolerate but respect others especially when their views or opinions differed from my own. In addition, I suffered from ethnocentric views. This inhibited me from curly being able to see the beauty of other cultures. Living in India for 11 months showed me so much of India which is not usually showed in media in the U.S. which helped develop my genuine love for the country. Finally, the most important part of exchange were the people. Whether I'm talking about my host family, friends, other exchange students, AFS staff, all these people made such a detrimental impact to my exchange and who I am today. As I grow and create new relationships I start to see bits and pieces of other people in myself. Growing in India helped me to become a better person and these bits and pieces have developed me into a more conscious, kind, empathetic and critically thinking human. Of course, I have to give a shoutout to all the amazing people I met through AFS. I will never stop believing that the president of my local AFS chapter in India was the kindest most considerate human I have ever met. Ajay Mehta of the Rajkot, Gujarat chapter showed me more kindness in a time that I needed it most than anyone else. Ajay uncle was someone who all the exchange students agreed always had our best interest at heart. We always knew he would do whatever he could to help any situation possible. Ajay uncle made a difference in my exchange as I felt I have someone who would advocate for me when needed. a year after my exchange, Ajay uncle was in Oregon (where my parents live) for an AFS conference. When he came he was able to stay for dinner with my family which was such an amazing experience. Other people that were important to my exchange were my host family. My host family was the highlight of my time in India. I truly could argue that nobody had a better host family than the Vadgamas! Living with my grandmother, aunt, uncle, two cousins, mom, dad, three sisters and my younger brother, I truly got the traditional Gujarati experience. One of my favorite parts was sleeping on the floor in a common space with my three sisters and little brother all under the same mosquito net. Of course I was offered a bed, but I preferred to sleep with them because it meant I was not getting special treatment, I was a part of the family. My family was so kind and always tried to do things that would expose me to their culture. Living in a big family never got bored and I became incredibly close with my mom and three sisters. We were all the same size so we all shared clothes. Getting ready for festivals was so much fun because they got to dress me up in whatever they had. My sisters were so interested in American culture so we would dress up in my western clothes whenever we got the chance.
I could go on for forever and talk about specific times that were life changing like the time I climbed a mountain in the northern part of India in the middle of winter to the famous Vaishno Devi temple, celebrated 9 days of dancing (Navratri), got off at the wrong bus stop in the middle of nowhere, saw the Taj Mahal and so much more.
India was incredible.