CEA CAPA Education Abroad Reviews

I went abroad with CAPA on a 6-week summer trip to London. I had a part-time internship in digital marketing and took two classes, a history class about London as a global city and a professional development class. Overall, I had a great experience! We lived in a nice flat in Camden and had a reasonable commute by Tube or bus to class and work. The CAPA staff was great with offering any support needed, whether it be with finding a good internship or helping you plan a fun weekend trip. They planned some great events, like a trip to Wimbledon and a royal bike tour. London was a great place to be in the summer. There were plenty of great things to do around the city - and many of them were cost effective or free! I enjoyed all of the food markets and just walking around the beautiful parks on the weekend. Completing an internship abroad was something I wanted to do and am glad I chose to go with CAPA!

As my adventure in Italy quickly came to an end, I reflect on all it has taught me over the course of these last two weeks - not just academically but personally as well. Picking one experience in particular, I choose to focus in greater detail on a conversation I had with one of my CAPA professors only a few days ago. Our conversation took place over an assignment I was having difficulties submitting, and my professor stopped me mid stressfilled sentence, and said the wisest thing to me that I had heard in awhile. He said, “In America, your culture supports a life of stress and it’s pointless when nine out of ten times, your situation will stay exactly the same”. This simple statement not only forced me to reflect on American culture but my own life in particular. It was true what he said, American culture is one that could turn stress into a lifestyle for an average citizen. We see examples of this with citizens working two and three jobs to keep up with the cost of living. Students are raising their blood pressure levels to get into good colleges, and the entire country is sitting on the edge of their seats with rapid shifts in our economy. Taking this all in, I came to the realization that I personally was not living as “stress-free and unbothered” as I had set out to be. The simplicity of my professor’s statement changed my outlook on life for the better. It taught me that life is only a moment and yet so much bigger than such at the same time. That granted, life in one specific moment is indeed our reality but once the moment has passed a new one has been created. We spend so much time prolonging these past moments or anticipating one yet to come that we miss out on so many of the new ones created in the process. This experience in particular reminded me to let go of what I had no control over, to do what I could when I could do it, but also to enjoy each moment as they are created because they will past. As the Italians say in their culture “La semplicità è l’ultimo sofisticazione” - Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

Interning and working abroad in London was a very transformative experience. I really appreciate the independence that CAPA gave us and the support they gave us throughout the program. They really worked hard in placing me at an internship that fit my needs. I wanted to do social justice, legal, or political oriented work, so they got me an internship at a small judicial nonprofit organization, which was a very fulfilling experience. I was learning about judicial issues around the world, which was different than any other work experience I have ever had. I developed stronger professional skills and learned how to be more self sufficient, figuring out how to budget, get around the city, and balancing my work and class schedules with free time, all while navigating London. The classes emphasized London's socio-historical context, which I found very interesting as a Sociology major. I loved exploring the different neighborhoods of London (Soho, Brick Lane, and Notting Hill were my favorites) throughout my seven weeks and would highly recommend any student to do the same!

CAPA made studying abroad in London a breeze-- and worthwhile. It has been about 7 months since my program ended and not a day goes by that I don't think about it. From the CAPA side of things, they connect you with an internship tailored to your interests and skills, it doesn't get much better than that. The classes at the CAPA office are actually enjoyable, I was always eager to go to class. CAPA also provides opportunities not only around London, but around the continent. CAPA informed us about a trip to Paris which I signed up for and it was very organized and I had an amazing time. Our housing was 10/10. Literally if I could go back and pick anywhere in the city, I don't think there was a better place than where we lived. We were a two minute walk from the Camden Market, filled with tons of food and shopping. I miss London everyday and I genuinely don't think the experience would have been the same without CAPA guiding me through.

Where to start... Coming in, I hoped to gained a broader perspective of the world from my abroad experience. Not only did this program enable that to happen, but it did more... way more than that! The CAPA Barcelona program and its professors sparked a new interest for me. One of the courses I had the pleasure of taking was Intercultural Management with Laura Cervi. She designed the class so that we learned from the city that we were in as much as we learned in the classroom. Barcelona is such an amazing place to learn about Interculturality. Other than that, the program itself was a very enjoyable one. My classmates were student abroad from the US, as well, so it was easy to make friends and have travel buddies for the weekends. Lastly, I would recommend living in a homestay. It is a much easier way to integrate into the local culture and makes your time abroad feel a little more homey.

My experience in London was absolutely incredible! This is a joint trip with the University of Missouri School of Journalism, so it was great to have support through my school and through CAPA. Our class with CAPA was amazing, and our professor brought us all over London. The fact that our class was so involved in learning about the different parts of London made the program that much better. We were out and about in London and Richard, our professor, had such an extensive knowledge about London that it made me much more comfortable to explore the city. We lived in Camden, which was housing provided by CAPA and we all loved it. It was super edgy and fun and was full of cool food markets and shopping. Also, CAPA was instrumental in connecting me with my internship, and it was the best internship I could have asked for.

Studying abroad is not a mere vacation, but an experience filled with ups and downs. This experience allowed me to immerse myself into a different language and culture, which increased my acceptance for change in general. In order for me to grow as an independent, more open-minded, and flexible person, I needed to step out of my comfort zone and familiarize myself with different parts of the world.
This program allowed me to not only participate in classes abroad, but in the working environment of Buenos Aires through the internship. I was able to meet people through a different outlet than just the international school we took classes in. My boss was very nice and my professors were all understanding and fun to learn from. I sometimes wish the homestays were more welcoming. I personally did not have much of a problem, but I know some others I knew did not like their homestays as much.

CAPA was a life-saver during this trip! When we first arrived in London they walked through safety tips with us and welcomed us into a new city with open arms. Throughout the trip, the staff became more of mentors to everyone in my program- always making sure we were okay, knew what we were doing, knew where we were going, and just constantly checking in on us. Over the course of the program, everyone in my program became very close with the front desk workers at the CAPA location we had class at, it was super cool to get to know them on a personal level! In the middle of my trip I needed roommate accommodations and the staff of CAPA worked with me to make sure I had the best housing experience possible. Without CAPA, my time abroad would not have been as smooth.

The moments I experienced whilst abroad are ones I would have never imagined happening but the ones I will never forget. There is something enlightening yet maturing about studying in a foreign country. Things will happen to you that are usually solved by your parents but you are forced to solve on your own. It is scary at first but once the moments over and you realize you can survive something unsurvivable, you will never be the same. Also The CAPA faculty and staff properly helped prepare me for what to actually expect when I stepped foot in Firenze. They helped shape my expectations to make ensure my time abroad was enjoyable. CAPA also provided ample opportunities for further immersion in Italian culture for little to no out of pocket cost with all. I had an amazing time abroad, I was not able to travel to every place I wanted to but I figured that getting to some places, enjoying the moments there and interacting with new people was better than travelling everywhere for glimpses at a time. If I could recommend any place to study abroad I absolutely recommend Firenze.

I studied abroad through CAPA’s Dublin program for an entire semester.My two favorite things about CAPA’s program is their opportunity to do an internship and the attention they put towards making you feel like you’re truly apart of a community. There was only about 22 people in the program so we all bonded very quickly. CAPA organized so many events so that everybody could become a second family. From walking tours around Dublin on our first day to weekly lunches, movie and game nights, to thanksgiving dinner to side trips to places like Galway and Belfast. CAPA really put effort into making Dublin feel like a second home. Our three advisors were always there 24/7 to make us feel comfortable and safe our group always called them our Irish mom, dad, and big sister. When I think back to why I loved all of my experiences abroad it’s because of the people I was with.

By far the best part of being in Dublin was my internship. Before going abroad students send their resume and a general cover letter to CAPA and they set you up with a skype interview with an internship.I interned for a non profit organization called Fighting Words which was founded by popular Irish author Roddy Doyle. Fighting Words holds daily creative workshops for primary and secondary students. Students come to Fighting Words on a field trip.
In the morning we had a class of primary school children and I took turns with the other interns to teach the workshop where I would go through the basics and foundations of what a story needs such as a main character, title, plot. The kids worked together to come up with the story and they came up with the funniest things like a main character who is a french fry who’s greatest wish is to get a pet unicorn and is afraid of being dunked in ketchup and then they would break off into tables of 3 to 4 where an intern would sit with them and help them finish writing the story and create illustrations.
In the afternoon the secondary school students came and we’d give them a situation such as you’re both in trouble in the principal’s office but only one of you actually did it and then we’d have them improv a scene. We’d type out their dialogue and then we’d get the class to fill in the gaps and create a story and then they’d also break up into groups with an intern to finish writing their own stories. There was honestly no better feeling than getting a hug from a kid or to hear them walking out saying they wanna come back here everyday. It solidify my future career goals to be in education and work with students.
For doing this internship I got 6 credits and I worked 20 hours a week. Once a week CAPA held a night class where we discussed our internship. We learned how to “sell” our internship during interviews and we had to write reflections on our internship and what we learned about the culture. At the end of the semester we had to do a mock interview where we talked about abroad experience. These assignments and the class were where we earned our 6 credits from.

CAPA requires you to take a minimum of 12 credits so I had to take two classes along with my internship. I actually loved my internship so much that I wished I could’ve done it full time but I really enjoyed my classes as well. The first class I took was called Irish History & Culture. We met once a week for three hours. Each class was a 40 minute lecture about Irish history followed by a 2 hour field trip with in Dublin. These field trips included walking tours, visits to Trinity College, ChristChurch Cathedral, Dublin Castle, the Dublina museum, and the Irish Emigration museum. We were graded on our weekly reflection that were 800 words where we had to tie in the lecture from class to our experience on the field trip. The second class I took was a film studies class that also met once a week for 3 hours. We had an hour long lecture and then used the rest of the class for screening of that week’s film. We went through different units of various film genres such as Italian neorealism, French new wave, and road movies at the end of each unit we were assigned a paper where we picked a film to focus on and show how it exemplified that genre.

Being in Dublin was a memorable, life-changing and magical experience.