Program Reviews

This program was an amazing experience where my fellow students were passionate about conservation, climate change, and learning. We were able to visit beautiful places and learn from local community members about the many different ecosystems we experienced. The academics were very well integrated into where we traveled although the workload was challenging at times. There was a good balance of city and rural life, as well as class and free time. I would highly recommend this program for any environmental science student who wants to challenge themself or who wants to become more literate in Spanish about ecological/environmental topics.

This program is very fun and well organized. The excursions are well-planned, interesting and complement the material covered in classes. The program advisors are friendly and kind and genuinely care to help the students in the program. The program is a great mix between structured travel and chances for independent travel/experiences. The independent study aspect is a great way to gain research experience and delve into a topic that you are interested in with the support of the staff. Overall great program!

This program is incredibly travel and outdoor-heavy. You are constantly traveling all over the country for different modules where you spend 90% of your time doing field work outside. You are never bored and always busy. The places you get to see are actual paradise and there is plenty of time to hike, explore, and swim in between class. There is also an incredible variety of subjects to learn about from birds, to coral reefs, to forest, to amphibians. The program teaches you how to use different research methods and conduct experiments, so that you can be successful in executing your own research project during the last month of the trip.

I loved the experiential learning that this program offered. With a greater independence in our projects, I became a lot more confident as a student and a scientist. The academic rigor of this program made it all the more rewarding. The leaders of our program, Xavier, Ana María, and Diana, were all very knowledgeable and available whenever assistance was needed. As a part of our courses, we had the opportunity to travel all throughout Ecuador - the Andes Mountains, the Cloud Forest, the Amazon, and the Galapagos. Another irreplaceable outcome from this program was the friends for life that I made.

This program was an amazing experience! We travelled to beautiful sites and learned about so many amazing plants and animals in situ. I was challenged academically and I gained a lot confidence in myself. The academic directors were very knowledgeable and experienced, and I was encouraged to ask questions about anything I was interested in. The program is divided between excursions to field sites, where most of the ecology teaching/learning takes place, and time in the city, where we took Spanish classes and had various other lectures. We were given many opportunities to practice field techniques, and the various assignments throughout the semester helped prepare me for the Independent Study Project, which was the most challenging and rewarding academic experience I've ever had.

Most of my criticisms have to due with changes that were made to the program in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This included cancelling the homestay element and housing the entire group of students in a hostel in a small town that was very far from Quito. We were able to make our own fun, but there was no social scene near where we were housed. Additionally, there were very few programmed activities aside from the field excursions.

Overall, I would recommend this program to anyone who is interested in studying ecology in the field and improving their Spanish - there were ample opportunities to do both!

My experience with “Mexico: Migration, Borders, and Transnational Communities” was invaluable to my personal, academic, and professional development. My coursework and immersion in Oaxaca, Mexico gave me the opportunity to expand and sharpen my understanding of Spanish by pushing me to engage with others in a variety of contexts using my second language. The experience furnished me with an intimate understanding of migration in and through Mexico. The program also featured opportunities to explore various aspects of Mexican culture, including the history, art, and architecture of Puebla, the lush natural resources and grand mountains in the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca, the indigenous influences and artful handicrafts in the Mixteca region of Oaxaca, and the cultural and linguistic diversity of Chiapas. These experiences brought the culture to life and allowed me to become personally acquainted with the traditions and customs of each community. Through my time in Mexico, I will be a more linguistically proficient and culturally competent student and professional capable of offering unique and vital perspectives and insights to discussions on immigration, U.S.-Mexico relations, and cultural awareness in an increasingly globalized world.

This program is very different from a lot of study abroad experiences. For one, you get to explore every ecosystem of Ecuador: from the dry forest to the cloud forest to the Amazon to the Galapagos. You get to see first hands the characteristics of these different natural places, along with the history and culture of the people that live within them. During this program, I also gained a large sense of self respect and self sufficiency. I learned to be level-headed and make solid decisions quickly and effectively. There were so many opportunities to work my peers and improve my ability to write scientific reports and communicate with those around me. I also met so many incredible people and had the opportunity to practice my Spanish speaking and comprehension.

My semester in South Africa was amazing and I could not recommend participating in a program in Africa enough. This program gives you professional opportunities as well as the adventure of a life time. From going on safaris to meeting high level anti-apartheid activists, you're able to do it all through SIT. Traveling across South Africa and to countries like Mozambique is a once in a lifetime trip event because you get to see insider views of each country and deeply understand the politics and complexities of the countries you visit. The program also offers a period where you can participate in an internship or independent study project, and both are amazing opportunities. I was able to intern with The Umkhumbane Schools Project and work with a small NGO to provide educational resources to students in a township outside of Durban. Living in Durban is also an incredible experience, and unlike anything you will experience in the US. Durban is vibrant and diverse, it offers everything from high end restaurants and entertainment to working class diners (like Patel's, the restaurant that invented Bunny Chow and is a must see when you live in Durban)! The program offers you a deep look at the city by arranging excursions to learn from local NGO's, from the Gay and Lesbian Center to international environmentalists. You also meet politicians and see important historical spots all across Kwa Zulu Natal. All of my friends studied abroad in Europe, and I can't help but feel that I received a very different and valuable experience than they did. While my friend was skiing in Chamonix I was taking basin baths at my rural homestay with the local Sangoma, a traditional healer. This program gives you an understanding of South Africa, from the city and its politics, to its rural areas and prisons. I cannot recommend this program enough. It was life changing for me and has opened a door into international politics that I am planning to pursue. Because of this program I have international professional connections and a new world view that was informed by the unique experience of studying in the Global South. If you are looking for a study abroad experience that will offer you new experiences and further your academics through experiential learning then SIT South Africa: Social and Political Transformation may be perfect for you. I studied abroad during COVID, and even with the restrictions that came with the pandemic, I had an incredible and enriching experience that has changed my life.

I absolutely loved this program. It's so cliché to say, but it really was a life-changing experience for me. I found the academics to be extremely stimulating, but the outside-the-classroom workload was reasonable, which left plenty of time to explore the country. I was especially impressed with how the coursework was accessible to everyone, regardless of Spanish-speaking ability. We had a wide range in our cohort, from native speakers to total newbies, but somehow everyone seemed to feel comfortable and appropriately challenged. As others have noted here, the excursions to the Amazon, Galapagos, and Intag cloud forest were absolutely amazing, in terms of both the ecological and cultural diversity that we had the opportunity to engage with. Our cohort was larger-than-average, with about 24 students, but we were very close. I think everyone felt that they had a solid group of friends to go out and explore the country with. Faba and Sofia were are just the best, very supportive but not at all helicopter-y. The class discussion was very open-ended, with wide variety of viewpoints, as we had students of a variety of nationalities. This was sometimes challenging and very intellectually engaging. My homestay experiences were both excellent, as most or all of the homestay families have long-standing relationships with the program directors and have lots of prior experience hosting foreign students.

For me, the most impactful part of the program was the Independent Study Project (ISP). For this project, we were allowed to stay just about anywhere in the country for four weeks, and work on a research project of our own design. However, we had to partner with a community organization in our project location, and the program directors have relationships with organizations all over, so no one had to be truly "out on their own" if they didn't want to be. I chose to work with a social movement that was protesting state-sponsored mining in the Intag cloud forest. I had such a good experience, and built such strong relationships with community members there, that when I got back to my university in the US, I immediately started working on a way to go back. Ultimately, I assembled a student team, and we were awarded over $20,000 in funding to return to Intag. So, I spent three more months in Ecuador supporting the work of multiple community organizations after graduating from UVA in 2019. I stayed with the same homestay family that I had met in 2018, and I am still in touch with them today. So, I would say that the was not only a great way to forge long-lasting relationships with local people, it also went a long way towards advancing my young career. As soon as it is safe, I can't wait to go back!

SIT Morocco was an incredible, life changing program! Living in Rabat and engaging with CCCL Staff not only allowed me to obtain an in depth, extensive experience of the geopolitical histories of Morocco, but I was able to visit a multitude of diverse places across Morocco, including Chefchaouen, Marrakech, Tetouan, the Sahara Desert, and so many more! Not only were the staff incredibly helpful and supportive, but the people in the program were all excited to be there and learn, and I met some of my best friends from this program!!