WorldStrides Reviews

The best decision I ever made was to study abroad in Australia (Gold Coast) with The Education Abroad Network. First of all, Australia is amazing because of the great weather, beaches, and adventure activities. You will never be bored and TEAN sets up great activities for students to further ensure that. TEAN arranged an awesome week-long orientation in Sydney before classes started where we got to go on a tour of the city, climb the Sydney Tower, visit a zoo, and we even got to go jet boating! Throughout the semester TEAN arranged for us to attend a Rugby game and a trip to a wildlife sanctuary where we could hold koalas. The TEAN staff is very good about making themselves available to students if one were to have any questions or concerns about housing, school, or things to do when abroad. The abroad office at Bond Uni was also a great resource to students. The campus is beautiful and TEAN offers great housing options for those that want to live on or off campus.

Aussie was the best trip ever! I am 100% sure everyone who went on this trip has come back home saying this. When do you every get to see Kangaroos around like deer are back home? When do you get to hold a koala bear? Once you get to Aussie the traveling is so cheap! The culture lifestyle is the best ever. You never feel rushed, I swear you just really get the time to enjoy nature and what it all has to offer.

My favorite experience that I had abroad was for sure traveling the Whitsundays. I was able to spend a whole weekend on the boat with people from all over. I also got to snorkel and dive all around the Great Barrier Reef which is life changing in itself. The water is so blue! The pictures that I took did not even do it justice as everyone deserves to see it with their own eyes. I am not kidding when I say you look above the water and it looks like it should be in a movie then when you look in the water it is like Finding Nemo right under you. It gives me goose bumps evening thinking about the trip. If I could go back and relive one trip it would for sure be that!

Aussie not only was a great education experience but something much more. I am able to bring those ways back to America and still keep the Aussie vibes around me. I know someone day very soon I would love to go back.

Cheers!

My experience with TEAN in Shanghai is beyond word. It was the best decision I have made and it was the best summer I have had. I left Shanghai richer in knowledge and wiser. I made lifelong friends from around the world and built so many connections that I cannot count it all. With 13 other TEAN students, we bonded and grew up together only within a month. We became family, we traveled together, climbed the Great Wall of China, ate local food (which we were told not to), tried every excursion that were available for us. The staffs were purely amazing, friendly, and helpful. Not only they were there to help me with everything (from using the washer to extending my visa), they showed me Shanghai and became my friends as well. I have learned so much about myself, the culture, and most importantly, I have developed strong communication and survival skills. This was my first time in China and not knowing the language was terrifying at first for me; however, TEAN made everything so much smoother and I blended right in.
Fudan University is a great university. The facility is beautiful and very secured. All classes besides the language ones are taught in English, the teachers are very nice and understanding. Although the courses can be a bit intensive, it is worthwhile.
I could go all day about how amazing this trip was but it’s always better to feel it yourself. I highly recommend this program to everyone, it truly changed my life and I know for sure it will change yours too.

My semester in Prague was easily the best 4 months of my life. Words can't even explain the experiences I had while traveling the world. Yes I spent all my money and ate more food than I ever thought possible, but if I had the opportunity to go back right now, I would without hesitation. From skydiving in the Swiss Alps, to laying on the beach in the Amalfi coast, to hiking through the mountains in Slovenia I made so many memories and friendships that are sure to last me a lifetime. Prague was the perfect place to study abroad. With its cheap prices, beautiful architecture, amazing food, endless beer gardens, and hidden gems found throughout the city, it became a home to me. I will without a doubt be back someday, and I am so thankful that I had this opportunity of a lifetime.

Throughout my entire study abroad stay in Auckland, New Zealand, my number one goal was making memories! And it was an easy goal to accomplish thanks to my friends and advisors at TEAN, the Education Abroad Network. From our orientation in Fiji to our first week in Auckland, my TEAN advisors were there to help me and my new friends get adjusted to life in New Zealand. They took us surfing and then to my very first taste of fish and chips. After that, I was hooked on this meal! Everywhere I went afterwards, be it to Kaikoura to Wellington to Fox Glacier, it was the first thing I would eat! It became a ritual for me. So much so that my friends would tease me for it. But to me, it represented the food culture of New Zealand, and that's how I best connect to a place, through its food. And it was through food and meals that I made such great new friends and visited some great place!

I was hesitant to go through with going to New Zealand, but I'm so glad I did. I have grown so much as a person. It gave me time to think about my life and what I want to do with my time. I loved traveling within New Zealand because Kiwis are some of the nicest people I have ever met. If you have an opportunity to travel to New Zealand, take it, because it is beautiful and is a hidden gem few experience!

I love to travel, and I hope that never changes. Coming to New Zealand has made me realize how much I love to travel for an extended period of time. Backpacking around is fun and all, and I love that too, but I loved meeting the people here, spending time with the Kiwi's learning the Maori Culture, taking classes, going to food stores, and being fully immersed in a culture the way that you can never experience in only a few days or weeks at a time.

In new zealand I became an adventurer, I bungee jumped, horse trekked, white&black water rafted, rock climbed, kayaked, biked, swam, and splunked (caving). 5 hour hikes became the normal everyday. I hiked across beaches, valleys, and forests through caves and rivers, over mountains, down ravines, through rain, snow, and sunshine. New Zealand turned me into an adventurer. It make me say 'yes' to experiencing new things, trying new foods, and talking to new people. So on my last week in new Zealand when a friend asked me to go on a 5 hour hike, I did it mostly barefoot, and when I found the most perfect patch of moss along the hike, I laid on it and felt like frodo waiting for gandelf to walk by and have a chat. I have never felt more like a Kiwi, than I had at that moment. It explains their relaxed nature, and love for the outdoors, with just a tweak of 'Tolkien' hidden in the magical-ness of the image.

The ISA service learning program in Heredia was disappointing in many ways. The communication isn't clear, I was told I was going to have a roommate, then I was placed alone with a bad host family who was hours late to pick me up and wasn't welcoming, and then once my parents called the company and complained, they switched me to another host family with a girl I had originally asked to be placed with (because she didn't have a roommate either)....
They make it seem like excursions are included, but they're not.
They oversell the volunteer placements, we don't get to do what they tell us we will (we spent a lot of time sitting around) and I also was made to feel very uncomfortable by one of the male workers in the hospital (obviously this isn't the program's fault). One of my friends was placed in a clinic in which she wasn't allowed to do anything. She was obviously upset about this and talked to her placement coordinator and they told her that they constantly tell ISA that the students won't be allowed to observe medical procedures yet ISA doesn't change their descriptions on their website...
The ISA staff (specifically the head of the program at the time) wasn't very helpful or concerned when real issues with placement arose. They're nice people but they're all young and unable to create any real change if there's a problem. They also don't respect you as much unless parents get involved because we're young students.

I enjoyed Costa Rica but the program sucked and I still don't know what half the money went towards.

I loved my experience with TEAN in China. It was the best decision I made for visiting China for the very first time. The staff was super helpful and we had a blast both during the orientation and while being on excursions. We grew together as a group so much and made memories that will last forever from yodeling on top of the great wall to having Chinese hot pot with our language teacher. It was amazing to experience Shanghai up close and engage with different local and international students at Fudan University. We learned a lot about China and the Chinese people, but also created contacts with some many other people from different cultures. I was especially lucky to become close friends with local students who took me home with them and showed me their way of life. Making local friends was probably the greatest experience of my awesome adventure. Right after that comes traveling both with the TEAN group but also alone. It was fascinating to see Beijing and Inner Mongolia with a guided tour since we had such an easy time getting around and learned so much. But also really enjoyed my trip alone to Xi'an. But through out the entire time TEAN was always very helpful and there was not a problem we couldn't solve fast and easily. I would very much recommend going to China with TEAN.

To anybody that is hemming and hawing about possibly studying abroad-stop and think. This is the opportunity of a lifetime to study at a college in a brand new place, while exploring a fresh world. Looking back on my experience studying abroad has taught me so much about adapting to new situations, meeting new people, and establishing new routines. Yes the expense is a big consideration, but when will you have another chance like this?