SIT Study Abroad: Iceland: Climate Change and the Arctic

Iceland is amazing! I recommend this program to anyone who is looking for a unique study abroad experience full of adventure and lots of moving around (pack light!). We got to hike to waterfalls, visit volcanoes, and tour Europe's largest glacier! We also get a range of living experiences, from living with host families to hostel hopping. There is also a great opportunity to conduct independent research on the topic of your choice, which provided me not only with meaningful research experience, but a greater understanding of and appreciation for Iceland's fight against climate change.

I loved every second, and even when I was homesick, I was so grateful for the chance to be homesick, because that meant that I was doing something so cool. I loved the professors and learning from Icelanders, I loved my curious and silly peers, I loved exploring the city, I loved seeing the entire country with a mix of community and global influences, I loved feeling like a local, I loved the colors of the houses, the twinkle lights, the coffee, and the fog. I loved what we were learning and how I felt connected to my class. I loved hostel-hopping, I loved making my own dinners, I loved movie nights and hikes. I would go back in a heartbeat.

I really enjoyed my time in Iceland with SIT! It's a great way to explore the country since you go everywhere, as well as integrate into the local community as you do a homestay, and the program has very good connections with Icelanders all over the country. I found the academics to be very easy, but you get to do an independent study project for the final 1/3 of the program, where you can really push yourself and do a lot of cool research anywhere in the country you'd like. Outside of class, a lot of people on the program, including myself, really enjoyed hiking and exploring wherever we were in the country, and I think the program would be best suited for people with similar interests. You are given a lot of freedom, and if you put it to good use by exploring, asking questions, and interacting with the local people, you can have a ton of fun and a transformative experience. The program also has a really good stipend that saved me a lot of money and was a big draw for me when choosing a program to study abroad with.

There are plenty of opportunities to engage with the material and tailor the rigor to what you're looking for. The program directors are spectacular and absolutely care about their students. Everyone speaks very good English, but speaking Icelandic helps you to engage with the culture and talk to the locals better. There are language lessons covering the basics with this program. Find less expensive housing during your ISP, and eating out will probably be a big dent on your personal expenses, so try to make your own food and utilize the hostel kitchens. Your host family is a really great way to engage with the community and culture!

This program is the one that transferred credits for my major, so this was the only option for me. That being said, it was spectacular and I learned so much and met some really cool people. I gained an understanding of climate change that I didn't have the same way before--actually being in a place that has experienced great warming and extreme weather of all sorts is very different from learning about it in classes. I also gained some really close friends, colleagues, and a sense of direction for my future. Also beware of the darkness in winter, stay active, stay social, and give yourself grace.

This experience was nothing short of life-changing. The nature of a program like this is to learn as much about yourself as you do the environment & climate change. Why is this? The nature of a program like this attracts independent, curious, and ambitious students who don't want a typical abroad experience. It brings them to one of the most sparsely populated and barren countries on Earth. If an experience like this sounds up your alley, it will change your life. I was heading into this abroad semester hoping to get some direction on where I wanted to focus my broad education in environmental studies, and being exposed to so many disciplines and professionals across niches really gave me a clearer sense of where to go. The students I studied with were wonderful, all independent like me, which was nice because we were all there for our own personal reasons, but we enjoyed each other's company and had so much fun together. On the homestays: If you are hesitant about the idea of living with a host family, I challenge you to embrace it with open arms. The Icelandic culture is so warm and humorous, and my host family filled me with so much laughter (and candy). The program director and assistant director were some of the warmest and most thoughtful educators, and I really can't say enough pleasant things about them. Overall, I learned so much during my semester abroad in Iceland and would recommend this program to anyone who is not afraid to spend some time alone with their thoughts, excited to seek out knowledge (this program requires you to be high agency to extract the most value), and ready to immerse themselves in a new and different culture. Overall 10/10.