Best Four Months!

Studying abroad was most definitely the best four months of my life filled with traveling to 20 European cities, making a home in Freiburg, visiting European institutions and organizations, and creating endless memories with the people on my program.

Housing:
There are about four to five residential buildings that the 70some of us on the program all lived in. It is about a 20-30 minute tram ride between the different dorms which does separate people at first, but eventually students would travel to other dorms together. Living arrangements vary from 5-8 suitemates—who are generally University of Freiburg students. My suitemates were very friendly and welcoming and were genuinely interested in my experience in Germany. Getting to know your suitemates is a great way to interact with local students and immerse more into the local culture. Note for the students studying abroad in the Fall: the university students do not usually arrive until mid to late October—so things are quieter and slower at first, but once they arrive things start to pick up!

Freiburg:
There are not enough words to describe how great of a city Freiburg is. It’s a small to medium sized university town where you can easily get around, by foot or the convenient tram, and be comfortable with your surroundings. I felt safe and comfortable adjusting to the city and while I did a lot in the city throughout my four months there, it is a big enough city where there was still a significant amount of things I did not get to do.

Academics:
The IES EU Center is a nice and comfortable building…that we spent A LOT of hours in...to study, hang out, and for classes. The seminar is based on your previous political science classes and focuses on a more in-depth knowledge of the European Union institutions and their workings. A German class is required but previous German knowledge is not needed. I had taken four semesters before studying abroad and my language did improve by hearing locals speak and talking more than usual but due to this being an English speaking program, personal effort is necessary to progress your language ability. The other three courses are electives—the great thing about these are the local field trips and lectures you attend (during course excursions) relate to the material learned in class. The Model EU at the end of the program effectively summed up the program. We were able to take everything we learned throughout the semester and apply it to relevant policies.

Course Excursions:
The field trips were the highlight of the program—it makes it a unique program and take you to places, like the European Commission, European Parliament, various think-tanks, academic experts and more, that normally one does not have the opportunity to experience. The meetings and people we met with on these course excursions allowed us to see how the “experts” of the European Union deal with the current events. The excursions are well-planned out and the days are busy filled with meetings but there is still time to enjoy the cities.

I would highly recommend the IES EU program for many reasons—especially to those who are interested in aspects of politics and economics, as this program is heavily focused on these academic areas. I’m already counting down the days till I can go back and explore more of Europe and especially visit Freiburg again!