Program Reviews

The staff at the front desk are really what made the program for me. I feel like I formed close relationships with them and they made me excited to come to class. I also appreciated all the trips and other activities they planned for us. Also all my credits transferred over which I really appreciated, and all the professors seemed very qualified. The two building locations are very close to each other so it was not difficult to navigate the city. In Florence it's hard to find spaces where you can just sit down and do work for free with good wifi, so I really appreciated the lounges in the academic buildings.

I had an amazing experience in Madrid through CEA CAPA. I came in to my semester abroad as a sophomore while knowing no other people in Madrid or in my program. But within days I felt super involved with the people around me and the city. Madrid is a beautiful place with countless opportunities for people living there. The city is consistently lively and there is always something going on, whether it's a soccer game or a festival, or just the day to day energy that the city provides. It is very easy and relatively inexpensive to travel outside of the city by train, bus, or plane, which allowed for amazing trips. CEA CAPA specifically does a great job of integrating students into the city during their first weeks, and consistently reaches out and provides resources as needed from anything ranging from mental health resources to travel tips and advice. As well as this they offer a handful of included trips and cultural experiences. My personal favorite was a cooking class offered in Madrid. I had an amazing experience and would 100% recommend CEA CAPA and Madrid as a city.

This program was so great. I have zero complaints about the entire program. The staff was so personable and kind, great communication, and a lot of effort was put in by the CEA CAPA team to make everyone feel comfortable. They made it so easy to become friends with everyone in my program, by planning excursions for us and having so many fun, personable activities during our classes. I was able to make so many deep connections with the other students in my program that I will cherish forever. Our living accommodation was also wonderful, we stayed at the Meriton Suites, which was a very clean and nice environment. CEA CAPA also did great at their roommate matching.

My experience with CEA was amazing. They understood that students who are going abroad aren't just there for school, they are there for a new experience to build who they are as a student and a person in general. The school is amazing, and the professors are just really great people. They show that they care for the students and are very understanding on top of that. What I would say to the future students is to get out there. Make new friends everywhere you go. Go on trips when you can. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and if you have the opportunity to go, take full advantage of everything there.

This was a quick 2 week research program through my university! CEA CAPA was there however to make sure we got into housing smoothly, gave us some orientation, and was decently available outside of that in case of emergency. They also planned very fun group activities like a family style Indian dinner and a west end show called "Operation Mincemeat". It was a very independent program where after our orientation days and our professor showing us around the different archives, you pretty much went about your day doing what you needed to do! I love London and I loved my 2 weeks there, I definitely wish it was longer!

Paris is a great destination to pass your summer. You get the chance to discover one of the most sought after cities in the world. It is a great opportunity to immerse yourself in European culture and try something different from your normal studies. Apart from getting the chance to unravel the city, you are offered a great academic program that offers a variety of courses from technical to more creative opportunities. CEA CAPA covers it all. The staff are of great help in providing resources you can use in order to get started and acclimatize yourself to the new environment. I would recommend this program to anyone who wants to get a chance to explore a great city while getting to take classes with great professors and stepping into a unique experience that will stick with you forever.

Studying abroad in London with CEA CAPA was genuinely a life changing experience for me. I can't say that any one thing I have experienced has affected me as much as studying abroad did. From experiences that were offered by CEA CAPA to experiences I was inspired to do personally, this trip was filled to the brim with things that inspired me. CEA CAPA was so wonderful in preparing me for this trip with frequent emails as well as offering up any further support needed. While in London, CEA CAPA made sure that my group and I were prepared for everything we might encounter in London, including navigating the public transport there. I made so many amazing friends while in London and had experiences like no other--from watching West End musicals, to exploring the East End, to riding on the Tube, to going to a variety of different restaurants and pubs--my London trip changed me for the better.

I had the opportunity to visit many different markets, local vendors, and cafes during my classes. It was a great way to sample foods that were traditional to Florence and also special items during the holidays. I also loved the included day trips the program offered. It was great not to have to plan the trips and have transportation and an itinerary already made. The staff were always welcoming and helpful, and made an effort to connect with students. Another great perk was that the program included a cooking class. We got to learn how to make pasta with two different kinds of sauce, along with panna cotta and soufflé.

Overall, I had a great experience in this program. I took advantage of most of the day trips and activities they offered, which were awesome. The day trips were to Stonehenge and Bath one day and to Dover Castle and Canterbury another. It was amazing to have these trips pre-planned with transportation and tour guides arranged ahead of time, and all of the locations were gorgeous. I also loved the activities they offered, like Curry Night, Theatre Night (I saw Hadestown!), the Greenwich Boat Tour, and others.

I think that apart from these trips and activities, the greatest gift that CEA CAPA gave us was prepaid Oyster cards. This meant we could travel anywhere in zones 1 and 2 by tube and anywhere in London by bus, included in the cost of our program. That gave us such freedom to get wherever we wanted to go in the city and do and see a lot outside of what was organized by the program.

My classes were not terribly demanding, but they helped me engage more deeply with my internship, the city, and my peers. I took Writing the City: London with about seven other people, which was great because I feel we all really got to know each other through our writing and during our class field trips around London. We explored Covent Garden and read a passage aloud about how it looked hundreds of years ago, looked out at the Thames as we read about the time it iced over, and had a great little goodbye picnic in Kensington Gardens, eating scones and reading an excerpt from Peter Pan. The assignments encouraged us to take inspiration from the city in lots of different ways, and it helped me be creative in my writing and dive a little deeper into my experience abroad. I would also consider some of my classmates to be the closest friends I made in London, and I hope to keep in touch with them! In my Global Internship Course, I did some resume work, a mock interview, and overall got comfortable with distilling and sharing the value of my internship experience. Everyone loved the professor too, and he brought us British snacks every class from Gloucester cheese to Viennese Whirls.

My internship with Rix Inclusive Research gave me a great diversity of experience with different kinds of people and work. I got to sit in on a meeting with Rix and visiting Egyptian professors from Cairo about inclusivity in education. I also got to tag along with them on a tour of a local school that is specifically equipped to support kids with disabilities. Sitting in on a class there and getting to try out some of their assistive technology was really cool as well! On a more consistent basis, I helped out with outreach at an upstart cafe that employs deaf and hard-of-hearing baristas, and got to learn a bit of British Sign Language while I was there. Later on in my internship, I was also able to connect with some locals at Airthrie, a group living facility for adults with learning disabilities. I was there with my fellow interns to chat about health technology like FitBits and exercising, but we’d also get off topic and talk about our favorite spots in London, compare elements of the UK to our experience in the U.S., and discuss one resident’s upcoming birthday party. Both conversations felt equally valuable!

And, need I remind you, this was all over the course of six weeks!

One downside to the experience for me was the housing. The kitchen in my flat was smelly when we moved in and remained that way throughout the program. I spotted a mouse that disappeared into a hole under the cabinetry, and we often had small flies come in through the windows as soon as there was anything in the trash. This was exacerbated by the fact that my roommates did not keep up well with washing their dishes, so there was food residue sitting on the plates and things in the sink. Additionally, there was construction going on in the lobby throughout most of the program, including a few days where we had to enter and exit the building through the fire doors. A maintenance worker also arrived in our flat one morning, not by our request and without notice, and said that he was there to change the fans in the bathrooms. The area was quite residential, which had its pros and cons (really accessible grocery stores, nearby tube station, slightly unnerving feeling at night) but overall I didn't take issue with it and my flatmates and I all had no incidents. There was other housing that other people in the program were assigned that seemed to be better quality.

The other hard thing for me, not related to this program in particular but to studying abroad in general, was that I found it difficult to consistently get enough sleep. That's something to keep in mind when trying to fit everything into your experience! It's really important to rest sometimes too.

In the end, I don't have any regrets about my program, and I think I had a really valuable experience and just a great time in England overall.

This past summer, I had the amazing opportunity to intern at a law firm in Prague. I was able to immerse myself in a legal environment, learn about Czech law and government procedure, explore the beautiful city of Prague, grow in my cultural and global awareness, and travel all around Europe. This was such a transformative experience that I would choose to do it over and over again. The growth you experienced both professionally and personally is so amazing. You get further your academic or career aspirations while also learning about yourself and growing in ways you otherwise wouldn't have had you not taken this opportunity. This experience was truly life-changing for me, and I would encourage anyone and everyone to do it.