Program Reviews

I really enjoyed the ground breaking work trinity college is doing with cs, they are making deals with big tech companies making it a prime destination for cs majors to study abroad there. Plus I was able to take courses that were not offered at my home school.

Granada is a beautiful city on its own and Arcadia made my experience the best it could be! They offer a large variety of trips and activities that enhance the experience, and they have an amazing staff that helps you along the way. It was so easy to make friends on this trip where there are fellow students all around you and so many opportunities to take advantage of. I lived in a home stay with a woman who took such good care of me and my roommate and was VERY enthusiastic about teaching us about Spanish culture. The classes were not extremely challenging, but I felt that I learned a lot, and still had time to enjoy my trip without feeling consumed by school work. I volunteered with senior spaniards to help them learn english and it was one of the best parts of my trip. I recommend taking advantage of opportunities like this to really get involved in your community abroad. I have no complaints with this program and would absolutely recommend it to a friend.

My study abroad experience at University of Otago was incredible; it was hands down the best five months of my entire life. Everyone I met was cool and fun, every weekend we went hiking or camping or just driving to beautiful views, and had a ton of fun with the social life in Dunedin. The program director for Arcadia is like a second, cool mom. Non-stop fun and happiness for an entire semester. Highly recommended!

I loved the Arcadia program at University of Otago! The staff were incredible. Jane, the program leader, was the sweetest, and most welcoming and accommodating leader anyone could ask for. All the housing is really close to each other, so you will be around other internationals. The commute to school is 5 minutes walking. The campus is beautiful. The location is incredible, 15-20 minutes from the Otago peninsula, which is absolutely stunning. It is also a 3-4 hour roundtrip from some of the most epic and beautiful locations in the world. The city is really fun and full of college students. You can either go out to clubs, bars, or flat parties. Whatever your scene is, you will find it there. The academics were solid. The only negative thing that I have to say is that you will most likely be cold a lot because the housing has no central heating and little to no insulation. You'll be given a space heater though!

I had an incredible study abroad experience. The program is located on Ortigia which is a small (~1.5 mile circumference) island right off of Syracuse. There are ancient Greek ruins everywhere and there is so much history/ mythology surrounding the island. The size of the program is also pretty small, between the 3 options (business, marine biology and archeology) there are only 17 students, and I had 5 in my marine bio program. Sicily is cheaper than Italy, and has a culture that is just as interesting. I would highly recommend any study abroad program here.

ACADEMICS
During the summer sessions you take two classes, Italian and then whatever class falls under your program. I was the only student who tested into the advanced Italian class, so the professor of the intermediate Italian class gave me individual assignments that were mostly based on engaging the local community and then writing about my experiences. I didn't really take any exams. Giovanna, the Italian professor was lovely.
For the marine biology class, we had a few tests but the bulk of our grade was determined by a research paper that pertained to subjects we discussed in class. We were allowed to work with other students for the paper and the one I turned in ended up being around 40 pages. The class was challenging but not impossible. What was really unique about this class was that even though the first week was dedicated to regular class sessions, most of the course consisted of field trips where we would hike and examine ecosystems and scuba diving and learning underwater research techniques. I became scuba-certified on the trip and completed a total of 15 dives which was awesome because the Mediterranean is great for diving. Students in this program are also allowed to dive in Plemmirio, a marine protected area, which is off limits to most of the public. It was by far the most rewarding academic experience I've had.

SOCIAL
Our group of students became extremely close over the trip, which the teachers told us was not incredibly common (I've head that sometimes the people who do these programs are kind of weird). A lot of times we would have "family dinners" where we would all go to the fresh air market and then cook at someone's apartment together. There were several bars we could go to, and because the island was so small by the end of the trip we new most of the bartenders well and had made Italian friends as well. Everyone we met in Ortigia was extremely friendly, and they didn't seem to be hostile to Americans at all.

ACCOMMODATIONS
Arcadia puts you up in decently nice apartments. Mine had marble floors and high ceilings and had 2 bedrooms but slept 5. The apartments have a full kitchen and bathroom and a washing machine. Even though Arcadia's website says that you could be up to 45 minutes away from the school, all of our apartments were within 5 or 6 minutes from the school so that shouldn't be a concern for anyone. It is important to note that they don't have air conditioning (like most apartments in Italy) but with the windows open it was never unbearably hot.

TRAVEL
We had several trips built into the program: we went to Catania, Palermo and the Aeolian Islands. On the weekends where we didn't have planned trips we would travel on our own to places like Cinque Terre, Paris, Rome, Milan and Taormina. There is time to travel but it is also nice to just hang out in Ortigia as well.

RANDOM THINGS WORTH MENTIONING
-you should definitely bring bug spray, I had really bad reactions to the mosquito bites (one was almost the size of my palm)
-food is pretty cheap, comparable to prices in the US
-you can drink the tap water, but it tastes salty so we always bought bottled water, which sometimes was more expensive than wine
-if you want to travel on your own on the weekends, the school will often be able to help you find hotel deals, but you should probably start thinking about that before you head on the trip

My experience at Arcadia's Oxford program refined me as a scholar and grew me as an individual. I was placed in Hertford College, conveniently located next to the main library (Radcliffe Camera), one of the most iconic sights at the university. My peers at Hertford were incredibly welcoming. I relished getting to know new friends in the dining hall, where we ate all our meals, and on the rowing team, which I joined and raced with in the Summer VIIIs Regatta in May. The city is beautiful, and I felt I had so much mental space, so much time to linger over a tea in a corner cafe, or walk through Christ Church Meadow. I blogged a lot and even read for fun. There was certainly room to travel on the weekends and on the six-week Easter Vacation between Hilary and Trinity terms, for which I backpacked through the continent.

As far as scholarship--I study Renaissance Literature, and was paired with two expert professors for my one-on-one tutorials. My tutors invested in me and challenged me to engage with a wider range of texts, pushing me to generate a body of scholarship I was truly proud of. The lectures at the English Faculty truly impressed, and you can go to as many or as few as you like--your schedule is flexible to your commitments, energy, and work load. The resources in the Bodleian Library are unparalleled (I got to handle a First Folio!) and the live theatre in London and Stratford was just a train ride away. I took much of this research back to my home university to incorporate with my senior thesis, and I can honestly say that the work done in Oxford is what has convinced me I can make it in an English PhD.

As for the staff of Arcadia, they were always there to support us through the tribulations of adapting to life in a new place. The orientation in London before the beginning of term introduced me to British culture and eased the transition to a foreign university and city. They touched base with us throughout the semester, and made sure we always had a network of support. They facilitate taking advantage of your time in Oxford to the fullest extent.

Ortigia is a small paradise in Sicily, Italy, and one of the sunniest regions in the entire country. It's home to Arcadia's study abroad program through the Mediterranean Center for Arts and Sciences. A typical day in the life? Heaven: I woke up at 8:00 in the morning and showered. My housemates and I walked the cobblestone streets and soaked up the sunshine until we arrived at our favorite local café on Via Roma. We ordered our croissants and cappuccinos, and we enjoyed our breakfast with one another. Afterwards, we walked to our first class of the day. On our way to Italian language, we admired the garden at school and greeted the old beautiful man who took care of the flowers as if they were his babies. Salvatore, the gardener, is just one person on the island whose soul is as radiant as the place itself. Anyone who calls this region in Sicily home has a big heart and a gorgeous kind of curiosity and patience that is so rare and inspiring. After Italian, I went to my film photography course. This course planted a seed inside of me for this timeless art form, and the professor's passion magnified my own desire to become a wonderful photographer. By the end of my semester in Sicily, my classmates and I hosted our very own exhibit in which we showcased our work like professional photographers. I have never felt better or more proud of anything in my entire life. I cried both tears of joy and sorrow that night because the exhibit meant that my time in Ortigia was drawing to a close. I digress. After classes, I taught young local Italian students how to speak, read, and write English. Two of my peers in the study abroad program voluntarily co-taught this TESOL course with me for the kids in our neighborhoods. They came to our school and we would teach them a few nights a week. Dinner mostly consisted of pizza and red wine. My friends from Ortigia and study abroad sat around my kitchen table together like a happy family. We ate, laughed, shared stories, and enjoyed the company for hours. Dinner was usually followed by a walk to the sea. We sat on a big rock and looked up at the stars, humbled by our insignificance yet feeling larger than life itself in such an amazing place. Homework somehow was completed and my studies went very smoothly. I learned about Sicilian culture and traditions more so by the friendships I made and the rituals I made sure to partake in than the books, but classes definitely set the context for real life situations during my time abroad. The people in Siracusa, Sicily, have become my most special memory of the place. I see their faces and I remember their names, their stories, their friendliness, and how welcomed I felt from my first day there. I knew when I left that I would be missed because I had become a part of a family in Sicily. Whether at the market, relaxing on a bench in one of many piazzas, at a local pizzeria, or even just on a casual night stroll, I always managed to form connections with locals that became very meaningful to me. I can't put into words the feeling I have about Sicily. All I can do is tell you that I left my soul in Ortigia. I still dream about Sicily and about the life I left there, the life I hope to return to one day in the near future. I couldn't have asked for a better study abroad experience. I am truly thankful for every single day that I spent in Ortigia. Arcadia knows how to do study abroad!

Day to day-
We got to pick our classes as long as they fit in a schedule, the Cuban students are actually very rude to their professors so that was a bit of a shock. In terms of academic challenge... there wasn't any.

Our residence was generally very nice, cleaned daily and we a breakfast and dinner that by Cuban standards was good but not by American standards. The beds seemed uncomfortable at first but you totally get used to it and forget.

Be aware of sexual harassment. There are a lot of men who will stand on stone walls or whatever and jerk off at you, and I wish I were kidding. This really impacted the beginning of the trip for me but, sadly, you'll get used to it. People also catcall like no other.

BUT we met AMAZING people there and ended up making a very close group of cuban friends. Because of how small our study abroad group was, we also became very close to each other.

Take advantage of the beach! It's about 45 minute drive but is well worth it.

The program director, Elena is just the absolute best. We all LOVED her and she's hilarious and beautiful and just the absolute best.

I would give anything to go back again.

I really appreciated that Arcadia provided me with a group of friends to start my time abroad with. Some of the people I met during the first week remained my friends until the very end. With that in mind, London is a very big city and it's hard to make friends unless you have initial connections. My dorm was terrible--I was at the Frances Gardner House and there was absolutely no way to socialize. I would recommend Ramsay or Ifor Evans for anyone doing this program.

My experience with Arcadia's London Now program was one of my best college experiences thus far. I lived in the picturesque burrow of Notting Hill, right on Hyde Park with 20 other college kids from around the world. Although that last part about the 20 kids sounds horrifying, it turned out to be one of the best parts about the trip. All 20 of us got along so well, we found that we had a difficult time doing anything without everyone present. Every weekend we went out to see a different show in London's West End and we explored the night life of the city. One of my personal favorite nights included getting free tickets to The Cripple of Inishmaan through one of Arcadia's professors and meeting Daniel Radcliffe afterwards. After the show my friends and I headed out to Piccadilly Circus for a night on the town, finished off by a ride on the London Eye, and a beautiful hour walk back to our home. My biggest problem with living in London was how much money I had to spend doing everything I wanted to do (the conversion rate at the moment is really hard to swallow). Another aspect to living in London I took issue with is the amount of drinking. The majority of my roommates were either 19 or 20 years old and from the United States. Therefore, drinking legally became the highlight of their trip and I found myself drinking more than I ever had before. Although going out legally is a lot of fun, it can get old after a while and I found that a lot of people would rather get wasted than get to know the city they were in. Having said that, with 20 roommates its always possible to find someone who wants to explore with you. I left this trip having made some wonderful life long friends and learning a substantial amount about the culture of the United Kingdom.