CIEE Summer Study Abroad Programs

This program opens up opportunities for learning more about health care in a challenging and dynamic/hands on way. Botswana is a safe country and Gaborone is a growing city. If you are vegetarian, you will find lots of food to eat. Local cuisine is great! You'll love the experience if you like to travel between countries and go on safari's as well! Africa is such an amazing place and you'll find yourself wanting to go back to moment you come home.

My summer in Korea was amazing! The list seriously never stops, and the entire day you just see so much. It's impossible to take it all in. But never fear, after an entire day of touring and being a tourist, they give you the entire night to do what you will with your time and money. The student helpers were key in having a great time, suggesting great places to go and how to play Korean drinking games (which are really fun). One of the great things about the program is that they pick a variety of students throughout the US, so you'll always find a group of people with similar interests who want to explore the same parts of Korea as you. But really, they give you so much time to just go out and do whatever, and if you're that kind of person who likes to walk around the city and talk to random people (when you find young people who speak English), it's a pretty awesome time.

They took us out for all of our meals, and they always took us to nice restaurants. So don't worry about not liking the food. You have to be curious! And it's not as spicy as they think it is. I mean, I could list the food, but they pretty much served us all the main food people think is Korean food.

This summer program, to say it in one word was amazing. Through this program, I was able to finally visit Korea, and it ultimately affected my potential future goals and dreams.

First, the amount of things we did on this program was incredible. Truthfully because of our early morning schedules (beginning around maybe 8/9AM) ending sometimes late at night, it got very tiring, but it was definitely worth it. We were able to see so much, such as Gyeongbokgung Palace, Insadong, Myeongdong, and even the DMZ, etc., check out Yonsei University, one of Korea's top universities, meet great people such as Hyunwoo Sun of the famous internet learning website "Talk to Me in Korean," as well as experience great shows and performances, such as a B-Boy show called Bibap. The list can go on and on. To top it all off we stayed at a very fancy hotel, located in the Anguk area, which is conveniently a walking distance away from Insadong, Hanok Maeul, the Jongno area, Gyeonbokgung Palace and the Blue House, Cheonggyecheon, Korean Tourism Organization, etc.

The staff were also pretty helpful, from when we left our site in the US to when we left. In addition to the staff, we had some AMAZING student helpers who not only stayed with us the entire day, but also even after our tours ended to help guide us with where we wanted to go in our free time and even joined us and helped us at the places. Truly incredible, kind helpers.

The thing that boggles me is that though there are a large amount of students who apply to this, there are not NEARLY as many as there should be, and I think it is because of how little information there is on this program. The amount of things you're able to do on this trip is incredible, and one of the greatest experiences you will ever have in your life. Please do not pass up on this opportunity. If you have passion about wanting to go to Korea (or even just wanted to see what it is like), you must go on this trip, as you will get a very good taste of what Seoul is like.

My summer spent in Seville was extremely formative - in all senses of the word. I enhanced my Spanish language ability, overcame many personal challenges, and immersed myself in a new and vibrant culture. I had known prior to my time in Spain that I had a knack for traveling and meeting new people, but the personal growth and independence I experienced are outcomes that I hadn't previously considered, yet are skills that stick with me to this day. Seville is a beautiful city that can entertain visitors for months and even years on end. The architecture, rich historical legacy (as the major port for goods to/from the "New World" during the "conquest"), delicious cuisine and vibrant social scene make it the perfect study abroad location. I have to give much of the credit for Seville's appeal to CIEE as well, as they administered a perfect program with unique academics, super attentive and friendly support staff; and the perfect amount of excursions and social activities - all in a beautiful, recently renovated "palacio" in the center of the historic downtown. I am now a professional in the field of study abroad, encouraging students to take the leap similarly to how I did, much to the credit of an amazing program in an amazing location.