Arcadia Study Abroad Alumni Network

Ireland was not how I expected. The students were not as inviting as I hoped and I had a difficult time making friends with the regular students, not in my program. The courses were interesting and most of the professors were engaging. Some had thick accents which made my learning a little challenging, but I think going through that has made me a smarter and better student. The social scene at night was a good time. One main thing I strongly disliked was the study resources. The library would be filled with students and feel more stressful than relaxing so it was challenging to complete my work. I loved the town and thought it was extremely useful to have the local stores, bus stops, and restaurants so close by. Grocery shopping was convenient and cheap as well which made life easier. My traveling was what made my experience so great. The shuttles to and from the airport and the buses that went to Dublin made just about any destination possible and I definitely took advantage of that. Overall, I think if I were to do it again, I would have picked a different town, but I am forever grateful for my experience.

We did not have the opportunity to interact with people outside of our group of 7 in Paris. There was no cultural immersion. They were not straightforward or clear on academics and they said they'd offer courses that they didn't. I felt separated from the culture as well. I would absolutely not recommend this program.

The Dublin Internship program is the perfect conglomerate of culture, society and politics. The program uniquely pairs class requirements with internship work which provides a nice variety in schedule - and plenty of time to enjoy Dublin! The benefits of this program extend beyond your time abroad. Working in the Irish Parliament is a real resume builder and definitely gets the attention of schools, professionals and employers.

I had an incredible study abroad experience. The program is located on Ortigia which is a small (~1.5 mile circumference) island right off of Syracuse. There are ancient Greek ruins everywhere and there is so much history/ mythology surrounding the island. The size of the program is also pretty small, between the 3 options (business, marine biology and archeology) there are only 17 students, and I had 5 in my marine bio program. Sicily is cheaper than Italy, and has a culture that is just as interesting. I would highly recommend any study abroad program here.

ACADEMICS
During the summer sessions you take two classes, Italian and then whatever class falls under your program. I was the only student who tested into the advanced Italian class, so the professor of the intermediate Italian class gave me individual assignments that were mostly based on engaging the local community and then writing about my experiences. I didn't really take any exams. Giovanna, the Italian professor was lovely.
For the marine biology class, we had a few tests but the bulk of our grade was determined by a research paper that pertained to subjects we discussed in class. We were allowed to work with other students for the paper and the one I turned in ended up being around 40 pages. The class was challenging but not impossible. What was really unique about this class was that even though the first week was dedicated to regular class sessions, most of the course consisted of field trips where we would hike and examine ecosystems and scuba diving and learning underwater research techniques. I became scuba-certified on the trip and completed a total of 15 dives which was awesome because the Mediterranean is great for diving. Students in this program are also allowed to dive in Plemmirio, a marine protected area, which is off limits to most of the public. It was by far the most rewarding academic experience I've had.

SOCIAL
Our group of students became extremely close over the trip, which the teachers told us was not incredibly common (I've head that sometimes the people who do these programs are kind of weird). A lot of times we would have "family dinners" where we would all go to the fresh air market and then cook at someone's apartment together. There were several bars we could go to, and because the island was so small by the end of the trip we new most of the bartenders well and had made Italian friends as well. Everyone we met in Ortigia was extremely friendly, and they didn't seem to be hostile to Americans at all.

ACCOMMODATIONS
Arcadia puts you up in decently nice apartments. Mine had marble floors and high ceilings and had 2 bedrooms but slept 5. The apartments have a full kitchen and bathroom and a washing machine. Even though Arcadia's website says that you could be up to 45 minutes away from the school, all of our apartments were within 5 or 6 minutes from the school so that shouldn't be a concern for anyone. It is important to note that they don't have air conditioning (like most apartments in Italy) but with the windows open it was never unbearably hot.

TRAVEL
We had several trips built into the program: we went to Catania, Palermo and the Aeolian Islands. On the weekends where we didn't have planned trips we would travel on our own to places like Cinque Terre, Paris, Rome, Milan and Taormina. There is time to travel but it is also nice to just hang out in Ortigia as well.

RANDOM THINGS WORTH MENTIONING
-you should definitely bring bug spray, I had really bad reactions to the mosquito bites (one was almost the size of my palm)
-food is pretty cheap, comparable to prices in the US
-you can drink the tap water, but it tastes salty so we always bought bottled water, which sometimes was more expensive than wine
-if you want to travel on your own on the weekends, the school will often be able to help you find hotel deals, but you should probably start thinking about that before you head on the trip

Ortigia is a small paradise in Sicily, Italy, and one of the sunniest regions in the entire country. It's home to Arcadia's study abroad program through the Mediterranean Center for Arts and Sciences. A typical day in the life? Heaven: I woke up at 8:00 in the morning and showered. My housemates and I walked the cobblestone streets and soaked up the sunshine until we arrived at our favorite local café on Via Roma. We ordered our croissants and cappuccinos, and we enjoyed our breakfast with one another. Afterwards, we walked to our first class of the day. On our way to Italian language, we admired the garden at school and greeted the old beautiful man who took care of the flowers as if they were his babies. Salvatore, the gardener, is just one person on the island whose soul is as radiant as the place itself. Anyone who calls this region in Sicily home has a big heart and a gorgeous kind of curiosity and patience that is so rare and inspiring. After Italian, I went to my film photography course. This course planted a seed inside of me for this timeless art form, and the professor's passion magnified my own desire to become a wonderful photographer. By the end of my semester in Sicily, my classmates and I hosted our very own exhibit in which we showcased our work like professional photographers. I have never felt better or more proud of anything in my entire life. I cried both tears of joy and sorrow that night because the exhibit meant that my time in Ortigia was drawing to a close. I digress. After classes, I taught young local Italian students how to speak, read, and write English. Two of my peers in the study abroad program voluntarily co-taught this TESOL course with me for the kids in our neighborhoods. They came to our school and we would teach them a few nights a week. Dinner mostly consisted of pizza and red wine. My friends from Ortigia and study abroad sat around my kitchen table together like a happy family. We ate, laughed, shared stories, and enjoyed the company for hours. Dinner was usually followed by a walk to the sea. We sat on a big rock and looked up at the stars, humbled by our insignificance yet feeling larger than life itself in such an amazing place. Homework somehow was completed and my studies went very smoothly. I learned about Sicilian culture and traditions more so by the friendships I made and the rituals I made sure to partake in than the books, but classes definitely set the context for real life situations during my time abroad. The people in Siracusa, Sicily, have become my most special memory of the place. I see their faces and I remember their names, their stories, their friendliness, and how welcomed I felt from my first day there. I knew when I left that I would be missed because I had become a part of a family in Sicily. Whether at the market, relaxing on a bench in one of many piazzas, at a local pizzeria, or even just on a casual night stroll, I always managed to form connections with locals that became very meaningful to me. I can't put into words the feeling I have about Sicily. All I can do is tell you that I left my soul in Ortigia. I still dream about Sicily and about the life I left there, the life I hope to return to one day in the near future. I couldn't have asked for a better study abroad experience. I am truly thankful for every single day that I spent in Ortigia. Arcadia knows how to do study abroad!

Goldsmiths was perfect to get a few credits out of the way while be close to Central London (but not having to pay the ridiculous inner-city rent). Great fun and beautiful being next to Greenwich (great if you need to get out of the inner-city scene). Make sure to go to the ministry of pie at burough market.

I studied at Beijing Language and Culture University in Spring 2011 with the Alliance for Global Education, and it was the best semester of my college career, and far more challenging, meaningful, and immersive than other programs in China students from my university have attended. I increased the level of my language skills by more than a year of American schooling and have no difficulty keeping up in my current Chinese class. I had the opportunity to do an internship in Beijing, and spent ten days traveling with the rest of my program in southern China as well as a week traveling independently along China's eastern coast. Amazing native/local staff, demanding professors in language courses, really nice dorm living, plenty of travel and sightseeing advice and opportunity.