API Family

After getting to know a bunch of other exchange students at Belgrano, I found that many of them had mixed emotions about their study abroad programs. Some felt as though their program was too big (80 people or more) and that they found it hard to feel connected to their program and a specific group of people. Others were disappointed with their homestays or felt that their programs did not do enough to support them. I could not relate to other student's problems at all because API greatly exceeded my expectations. My group was not so large as to make me feel like a number and I felt as though I had a new family in addition to my wonderful host family that API placed me with. Our resident program director helped us with our student visas, organized cultural activities, checked in with us often to make sure we were doing OK, and also opened up her home to us for API program gatherings. She went above and beyond to make sure that we were enjoying ourselves and getting a lot of our experience studying abroad. I also felt very safe knowing that I had someone reliable that I could contact should anything bad happen. Although I had API as a basis for my experience, it was also very easy to be independent--I certainly did not have to rely heavily on API's services and did not feel confined to my API family and had many other friends, both local and international, that made my experience that much better.