SIT Study Abroad Reviews

I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to have a study abroad experience in a city that is full of life. I felt that I learned a extensive amount about Chile during a interesting time to be the politically. I am still very connected to many of the Chileans I met there as well a some people in my American group. I highly recommend this program if you are interested in the topic of education. There is also the opportunity to explore more rural areas in Chile as well as Buenos Aires Argentina. The variety within the program was exciting.

If you are looking to challenge yourself or are an Honors student, this is definitely the right program. You will get real, invaluable experience. Coming back from Argentina, I found that many of the things I personally experienced there were coming up in many of the courses I was taking at home. This allowed me to be able to relate to many more people and experiences and has since given me an edge that other students don't have.

SIT is a very strong program provider for a multitude of reasons, but in my experience, its most valuable assets are the experiential learning component and the Independent Study Project structure.
With regards to language acquisition, I can think of no better way to gain skills than immersion. Although immediate immersion can be intimidating, the Social Movements and Human Rights (SMHR) program directors educated us on the importance of constant practice in our learning process. Furthermore, we were encouraged to speak Spanish to exercise respect and appreciation for Argentine culture, as well as a gateway to forming grounded relationships with our Argentine friends. My home stay in particular provided me with a comfortable environment in which I could struggle through the learning process with my host mom, who helped me gain so much confidence! The structure of the program also allowed my group to learn outside the classroom on a daily basis, a component that in retrospect pushed us to gain a deeper understanding of the practical applications of the theoretical concepts taught in the classroom.
The Independent Study Project (ISP) gave us the space to form professional and personal connections with Argentinians. While the academic rigors of the ISP challenged me on a daily basis, I also gained the research experience of conducting interviews in Spanish and writing a qualitative research paper. I'm actually currently continuing various components of my research back at my university in the US!

I grew up in ultra-rural northern New York state, and had never lived in a city in my life. The obvious choice was Fortaleza, a dangerous city of 3 million people in northeastern brazil... yeah, most people wouldn't say that's the obvious one, and to be completely honest it was a HARD semester in a lot of ways. But that's what i needed, because i sure grew a lot in those four months. This program, headed by the wonderful, thoughtful, kind, friendly, loving, forgetful, scatterbrained, passionate, openminded, brilliant Bill Calhoun, is kind of a wild one. please don't sign up for this thing if you aren't adventurous. you'll get the most out of it if you are committed to trying, trying, trying to learn portuguese, and starting up as many conversations as you can with as many brazilians as you can. There are random field trips that will tire you out socially, physically, emotionally -- but just think about how likely you are to get to experience such things in a foreign country again, and you'll realize that you're getting to do things no tourist would ever DREAM of doing -- living on a capoeira commune, spending four days on an MST settlement, casual rock-climbing in the serra with hippies, talking about racism with brilliant proud black brazilian university students, meeting government officials involved in land use and zoning for the city... like, those are a few of the things i found myself doing. Oh, touring the city of Salvador with a famous afro-brazilian activist and poet. Getting to take a class in capoeira an african philosophy with a literally world-famous capoeira mestre. I'm getting ahead of myself tho: the big thing with this program is that it's very very weird and different from the way you're probably used to living. Transportation around the city is tough; you will be sweating on buses a TON and you can't stay out late at night (I know; I was mugged) and you need to watch out for your friends at all times cause it's really not the safest place in the world. Your host parents are probably gonna try and micromanage your life because of this. host family experiences vary; mine was pretty great because she loved to talk to me. Try and talk to them as much as you can and remember to keep your MIND AND HEART OPEN because homestays are one of the main components of this program in my opinion. It's not an academic program, really; let's get that straight right now. It's about shifting your worldview. Learning to see this existence in another way, and noticing that people see it way differently from you a lot of the time. one of the biggest ways you'll do that is getting to know your hosts. my host mom and i ended up loving each other even though we REALLY disagree politically about a lot of things. also this is a great program if you're an INDEPENDENT guy or gal, because you will have time to roam and see the city and observe and learn and get to know folks and a LOT of the richness of this program is up to you.

Overall, being part of the SIT Vietnam Culture, Social Change, and Development boosted my confidence and abilities to be independent and versatile. Travelling internationally became an enlightening and fun experience to meet new people and cultures. Being able to widen my cultural immersions, global perspective, and foreign discoveries gave direction toward a path I wanted to seek and be an active global citizen. My time with SIT abroad gave me the opportunity to meet, understand, and appreciate the multiculturalism around me.

My experience in Vietnam was very unique as I went knowing the language at an intermediary level. The SIT staff members, faculty, and student volunteers were all extremely nice and forthcoming. They were very eager to help and show us around on their mopeds. In addition to the support, our travels throughout the country was exquisite. We got to see lots of different cities, environments (delta, mountains, urban, rural), climates, nonprofit works, etc. in 16 weeks roughly. A grand tour of the whole country was nice and pleasant in addition to learning about the history and development of the county over the years. The coursework was very self-oriented which is a style of teaching I preferred as I have more room for interpretation of my writing direction and project.

Biggest thing I got from the experience is the travel bug, and life-long friends. I had the opportunity to travel with my local peers and revisit them during a graduation trip back! I significantly improve my language as well, placing Advance-mid for my speaking and Advance-low for reading and writing. I hope others take on the time study abroad experience!

Readings nicely accompanied the excursions and other experiences we had in the program. Our instructors encouraged us to connect what we were reading with what we were seeing. However, the assignments we turned in were based more on observations and less on readings. The readings supplemented what we learned experientially when we took the midterm and final exams. Directors, coordinators, and instructors were available 24/7 and went above and beyond in making sure we were safe and comfortable! My host family was wonderful, caring, attentive, patient, kind - everything good in the world! I got lucky. I miss Indonesian food so, so much. And the food provided at the program center was amazing - and there were options for every diet. Learning the language was a fully integrated experience! Living at home with my host family, speaking Indonesian in class and at home, on the streets, in stores, restaurants, etc. And going on every excursion or small trip offered - that helped with getting comfortable with new surroundings. Also asking questions helps a lot!
Health issues was the topic of one of the first discussions we had as a group - a local doctor also served as a guest speaker. When anyone had health issues, they were cared for immediately and as a priority above all academic and extra-curricular activities. Everyone stayed safe throughout our trip, and I think a key to accomplishing this was following the advice of our director and teachers, and sometimes families. We spoke Indonesian every day and had intensive language study from the beginning of the program until we departed for independent study projects. Excursions and conversations with everyone we saw when away from the program center were crucial to learning the language - speaking the language you are studying by practicing with your host family is so beneficial!! Speak with your host families, don't be shy or afraid of making mistakes, understand that the people you speak with probably appreciate that you are trying, laugh at any mistakes you make and ask questions in class! Also pay attention to the links between language and cultural customs, practices, social behaviors, etc. I became a calmer, less worried, less frantic, more patient, more loving, more open, happier person because of my experience abroad. I learned to treat everything in life as a learning experience and to approach things and people without expectations or reservations.

I went to Durban not knowing what to expect and walked away knowing it was one of the best experiences of my life. I had never been out of the country so as an African American to go to an African country was a privilege and a phenomenal experience. I fell in love with the city. I loved learning Zulu. The SIT staff are all amazing people who do everything they can to make your experience great. My ISP has informed my future career aspirations as I now want to pursue a career in Church ministry. My time in Durban will forever be a highlight of my life, let it be a highlight of yours too!

The opportunity to conduct independent field researcher as an undergraduate student is what sets this SIT program apart from any other study program in Jordan. At first the prospect of researching a topic, conducting interviews, and distributing surveys to culminate in a large paper was daunting, but the support of the SIT staff made the experience extremely rewarding. During the one month independent study period all of the staff put their personal connections at my disposal calling in favors, providing me with transportation, and even translating for me when my language skills came up short. The ability to conduct interviews and surveys in Al Zaatari camp, the largest of the Syrian refugee camps in Jordan, was a once in a lifetime experience that would not have been possible without the complete support of the entire SIT staff. From language teachers who proof read my translations to the staff members who accompanied me into the camp I was reminded time and time again how much the staff believed in me and my ability to conduct meaningful and ethical research. The experiential aspect of this program has had lasting effects on my life, helping me to expand my cultural understanding, language skills, and even make valuable connections that helped me to secure a summer internship and return to Jordan.

When I first started looking at places to study abroad, I knew I wanted to go somewhere outside of Europe, and I wanted to be able to tie my experience in journalism into it. This program was the perfect fit, and I was beyond thrilled to hear the news that I would be living in Rabat in spring 2016.
This program allows you the opportunity to truly get ingrained in Moroccan culture. You live with a host family for the first two months and attend crash-course lectures that give you raw, genuine perspective of the country you're living in. Then you go out to a city of your choosing for the final five weeks of the program to work on your independent study project. Between those two experiences, I learned so much about the country, but I also learned so much about myself. This unique study abroad experience taught me that it's OK to not understand what's going on in a room where you don't speak the same language as anyone else. Through experiential learning, It stretched me to my academic limits and unveiled my strengths and weaknesses (and how to fix them) as a reporter. After coming back to the States, I've noticed that this experience has taken me out of a comfort zone I didn't even know I was living in, which helped me get a better perspective on life. Morocco definitely changed me, and I know I'll be back there some day.

This program is for people who want to get out of this comfort zone and truly learn about and live like the Zulu people of South Africa right outside of Durban. This is not a program for people who want to go abroad as a vacation, but who want to change their perspective on the world by learning about and engaging with a totally new culture! this program definitely changed my future path in life. South Africa is one of the most unequal countries in the world and you get to experience first-hand the inequalities when you are living in the black township Cato Manor right next to large informal settlements (shacks) and a large fancy mall with designer stores. This program also allows you to learn first hand about community health issues through visits to schools, hospitals, community health clinics and more. My favorite part of the program was the independent study period during which I was able to live and volunteer at an orphanage and observe the occupational therapy services provided to the children created a system of inclusive education. That was definitely an experience I could never easily have again.