SAI Study Abroad: John Cabot University (Rome, Italy)

I highly recommend choosing a program like SAI for your study abroad experience because it offers you much more flexibility and opportunity for free time unlike university sponsored trips. I was able to travel to different cities around Italy whenever I wanted by simply taking the train after class. We also had very free weekends to do anything we wanted, like travel to other countries (I went to 4 others in only 5 weeks!). My experience was even greater than I expected because SAI helped make everything go so smoothly and I was never stressed out about anything. They also had plenty of activities for us to get to know each other before classes started which helped with making friends and getting familiar with the city in general a ton. They take care of your transcript forms at the end and everything too! I can’t recommend them enough!

My experience consisted of fun weekend trips to other countries, eating the most delicious pasta ever, learning that everything is walking distance in the city, and making memories with new friends in a new city. I knew I was going to love Rome, but I did not think I was going to miss it everyday like I do now. I had a such a fun time at the university there, taking very fun classes and exploring the neighborhoods of Rome. The food was amazing obviously and I never got sick of pasta. The people there are very different than the people are where I am originally from, so it was nice to experience people from a different culture and learning their ways of life.

I spent spring 2022 in Rome and had the best semester of my life. My housing was a cute little apartment and under ten minutes from campus and my assigned roommates ended up being my best friends. I tried to go to almost all of the SAI excursions and they were always so much fun and the on-site staff was great. Even when not on SAI travel, they always had awesome recommendations for where to go and where to stay. I also ended up having to see a doctor while I was there which was super nerve-racking, but they were amazing at helping me find an English-speaking doctor and helping me organize everything. If you have a chance to study abroad with them, you won't regret it.

Studying abroad with SAI is the best decision that I've ever made. SAI helped me throughout the entire process, from pre-departure, while in Rome, having to come home in the middle of the semester due to COVID-19, and afterward. SAI provides you with a ton of resources to make the process of applying for visas, booking flights, and obtaining a permit to stay as easy as possible. While in Rome, SAI gave us many opportunities to get to know the other students in the program and learn more about the city and country that we were staying in. The amount of students was perfect because there was a small enough group to where we all knew each other's faces but a large enough group to where we could meet new people and have different friend groups. COVID-19 put a huge amount of stress on the students in the program, but the on-site staff helped us through the entire process by providing assistance in arranging flights and reassuring us and giving us kind words throughout the entire process. SAI made the difficult (but responsible and correct) decision to send all students home when some universities did not make the decision for themselves. When I arrived home, SAI staff reached out to make sure that I had settled back into life in the United States and worked to provide us with as much of a refund from the time that we had to leave early. I loved every moment that I got to spend in Rome and without SAI I would not have been able to enjoy my experience as much as I did.

I studied abroad for an entire semester in Rome through SAI and it was undoubtedly the best experience I've had in my life. I ate some incredible food, witnessed incredible places, met and connected with people who have changed my life, and learned much about myself. It was a semester of self-exploration and global-exploration! I have come back to the States as a culturally competent and well-rounded person who is able to adapt to situations. I became close friends with Alessandra and Jordan, the coordinators from SAI, and I truly enjoyed their company and learning from them. During my time abroad, I pursued the Global Leadership Certificate SAI offers which has supplemented my resume.

I learned so much during my time abroad. I had the ability to travel a LOT which was incredible, I learned so much about other countries and was able to do it with amazing friends. I had so much fun with everyone I met and being in a program helped me significantly when it came to simple questions to questions about visas and passports. An awesome thing about SAI is we had so many awesome excursions we were able to do including cooking classes, tours, etc. I loved my experience and would do it again in a heartbeat. There were a bunch of very funny experiences as well, relating to traveling and friends. One piece of advice is to check twice, buy once. We had so many mess-ups with traveling which at the time sucked but looking back is pretty funny. I would say if I have any recommendation, say yes, say yes to exploring the city, take the time to really get to know your home city and know that once you get home you'll want to be back.

SAI made it very easy for me to transition to life in Rome. They relieved so much of the stress of applying for housing, getting health insurance, and getting a meal plan. I was able to focus on school and adjusting to a new culture. They had cooking classes for us to participate in. A native Roman taught us how to prepare local dishes and we were able to take home what we made! We also went on excursions as a group. This was a great way to meet other students that were also studying abroad. We visited places that were not easily accessible compared to major cities. I was able to visit the beautiful region of Umbria and tour Assisi. Overall, I had an amazing time and met so many new people abroad! Rome was a very safe city and had so much culture. I would definitely do it all over again!

I can't put into words how much I would encourage study abroad. SAI made me feel so comfortable and safe in such a scary experience! I would go back in a heart beat. I gained so much confidence and Independence through this experience that have already shaped so many of my career choices. Make sure you take advantage of traveling and meeting people throughout the country you are living in and try new foods! We lived in an apartment and the rest of the apartment building was all people who lived in Rome, really allowing us to be immersed into the culture. SAI also taught us all about public transportation and we really did become experts which helped when exploring Rome and feeling safe by yourself. There was a language course provided for a day during the first weekend there which was optional but it also helped so much!