A Beautiful City with Amazing Staff

If you're reading this review, you're just like me when I was trying to decide between a few study abroad programs. First and foremost, I can 100% assure you that CET Prague is an amazing program.

Prague is by far the most beautiful city in Europe in terms of architecture (for nature I would recommend Croatia). There are so many things to do in Prague from museums and historical sites to an array of restaurants, pubs, and clubs. There are farmers markets, food / wine festivals and so many unique social gatherings throughout the city that I found fascinating.

The CET staff is arguably the best part of the program. I can personally speak for Petra, Martina, and Maggie, which are three people you'll be in contact with the most. They truly cared about my concerns and helped me throughout the semester. Additionally, the housing offered by CET is superb. The apartments are spacious with high ceilings. Some units are nicer than others, but overall I thought all of the apartments were all nice. And I should mention that a housekeeper comes to clean weekly. My roommate and I were also lucky, we shared our apartment with an awesome Czech student.

The professors were generally very nice. I didn't find any of the classes challenging, but that's not to say they weren't interesting. I didn't have to put in a lot of study time, which was nice because that made it possible to travel more. If it's offered, I highly recommend taking Resistance and Dissent taught by Pavla. She one of the most eccentric and interesting professors I've ever taken and her course is really fun. I should note that all of the courses are taught at the CET center, not at a Charles University building. You won't be taking courses with other Czech students, all of your courses will be with other students from the United States. This is purely because all of the classes are offered in English, with the exception of the Czech course. I thought I would prefer to be in a foreign university setting, but I really liked the CET center. I think this might matter to some people, so this might be something to consider.

The travelling opportunities provide by CET are great. I believe there were two traveling seminars. The first travelling seminar you'll visit Krakow, Auschwitz, Brno, and Vienna. The second travelling seminar is in Budapest. In addition to these, CET staff will take you to several cities and towns throughout the Czech Republic. These travelling opportunities, which are provided by CET are unique. Most study abroad programs do not offer travel opportunities like this. I definitely think this is something to consider.

I wanted to write briefly about my experience as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. The aforementioned staff members were extremely open-minded and eager to help each student regardless of one's unique identity. At one point in the semester there was a sponsored meetup for LGBTQ+ students studying at Charles University, which was fun. Prague as a city is quite progressive for LGBTQ+ issues, there is an annual pride parade and there are several gay clubs, which are fun for everyone! The only problem I had was with my Czech teacher at CET. She was obviously ignorant about the LGBTQ+ community as per her comments throughout the semester. I notified staff about her comments and spoke to the teacher directly about attending diversity and inclusion workshops in the future. Although this teacher was not appreciated, she was a small negative in my overall very positive experience. I felt quite comfortable within the CET program and Prague.

After talking with friends about their study abroad experiences, I came to the conclusion that CET Prague is one of the best study abroad programs. The beauty coupled with an abundance of activities for students arguably makes Prague one of the best cities for study abroad. And I cannot say enough positive things about the CET staff. If you're on the fence between CET Prague and another program, I think CET Prague is a place for everyone.