AIFS Abroad

I really enjoyed Prague. The city is amazing and has so many diverse experiences to offer. There is a vast selection of things to see including arts, good food, history, sports, nightlife, and nature. I felt that AIFS was really helpful and available with all the questions I had. I really liked the AIFS staff in Prague too (Jenny and Renata), they were both super fun to talk to and had lots of great insight to share. Prague is just genuinely one of the coolest cities I have been to. I also traveled a lot during my study abroad, and still found Prague to be my favorite or one of my favorite cities. Across all the different aspects of a city, it is just so consistent and have so much to see. I really enjoyed the AIFS group trip to Moravia as well. Some drawbacks I experienced now. There were many AIFS events to attend (which is a huge plus) but I found it pretty difficult to plan so far ahead with these and declare attendance. I understand it is difficult for AIFS to handle this issue but the restrictiveness was difficult as well because when you study abroad you are just trying to sort out your mind. It's very overwhelming to figure out the subset of things you actually want to allot your time towards, since there is just so much to do. The other thing I didn't love was how the dorms didn't provide food other than super simple breakfasts. And you don't really have any space for groceries and it seems like a waste of money to buy kitchen items (tools, spices, etc) for one semester. While it is fun to eat out and explore, it was pretty inconvenient to always have to do it. Lastly, integration w/ Charles University wasn't really there. I found that I made great friends with the other AIFS and other study abroad students staying at the dorms, but it was hard to have good experiences with local students or have a proper "campus life". Overall, I would still highly recommend Prague w/ AIFS. My study abroad semester was something I'll never forget, and I don't really have any regrets related to it.

AIFS is simply the best. The organization was impeccable from the welcome cocktail party to the weekend trip to Florence. I felt taken care of every step of the way. All of the tours and other programming were fabulous. And the staff are just the best. They ensured I took Italian language classes that met me where I was at, figuring out how to enroll me in a whole other language school just for 3 weeks!!! My friends who were not taking language classes also had an incredible time. The balance between class and adventure / independent time was PERFECT. I made friends I still meet up with today, and enough happy memories that I have decided to go abroad again. I cannot recommend this trip enough. Do it scared, do it nervous, do it excited...it is TOTALLY worth it. You won't regret this.

I cannot emphasize the quality and experience of this program. Renata and Jenny are the best program advisors and truly were one of the most important parts of the program in my memory. I was hesitant about going abroad and looking back on that fear just makes me feel so grateful for the program's support and kindness throughout the entire semester.