Before coming abroad, I really did not know what to expect for my trip academically. My particular program is only 3 weeks long in the summer. Given this, I knew the class would have to be drastically different compared to your average class just due to time. However, I quickly realized that I loved the overall academic experience provided by my program. Firstly, the class schedule. Our program generally had class beginning at 9am at a local university and lasting until 11am-12pm. This worked perfectly as it gave plenty of free time in the afternoons to explore the surroundings, while not making you wake up super early in the morning. Personally, class would always fly by, and you would be straight back to doing whatever you wanted. Next, exams. We had 2 exams, both on Friday, covering the material from that week. I felt this was a great way to split up the class and not make it very stressful. As long as you did not wait until the day of or the night before the test to start studying, I think it allowed plenty of time to learn the material. Finally, my classmates and professor. This is the part of the academic experience that I think is the most important, and the one that brings everything together. My classmates and professor were everything that I could have hoped for. My professor, Dr. Lee, was engaging, helpful, funny, and kind. He made the class very easy to understand and allowed us to make the most out of our short amount of time. My classmates were just as good. They were respectful to the professor and to each other. Also, they did not hesitate to help if you did not understand something. My overall academic experience, ranging from the class schedule to the classrooms themselves, was better than I ever could have imagined.
I forgot to take a picture in class so here is a random picture I took in Venice.
