API: Experience Krakow, Poland (Scholarships Available)

During the 2023-2024 academic school year I traveled abroad to Seville, Spain with API abroad. As a Spanish Education major I was beyond excited to embark on such an amazing opportunity to dive deeper into the Spanish language and culture and travel outside of the United States for the first time. Due to requirements at my home university of Elizabethtown College I opted to live with a host family. This was the best decision I could have ever made and truly shaped my entire year abroad. The living situation was me, my roommate and our host mom, an older spanish lady with four grown children and lots of grandchildren. I later learned that she was the first person to ever work with my study abroad program to host American students in Spain, and had been doing so for over 25 years. Yaya (my host mom) truly became to me the grandmother that I never had. I learned so much more from her than just the Spanish language and culture, but about life in general and how to live it. She showed me kindness when I first arrived and could not get a grasp on the language, she included me in all of her holiday celebrations with her family including Christmas and New Year's and she even cooked a special lunch to meet my parents when they came to Sevilla to visit me. She truly went above and beyond to make me feel at home. The confidence and comfort I gained inside her home allowed me to blossom outside of it. At the Universidad de Sevilla I attended classes taught fully in Spanish with content in a wide variety of subjects such as literature, cooking, wine, phonetics and conversation, and teaching English to Spanish speakers. Through my coursework and connections with local professors I was able to participate in teaching English to both children and adults in the local community and schools. These professional connections opened new doors in my field that I did not know existed. One of them being the masters program in teaching Spanish as a foreign language and other languages through the faculty of philology at the Universidad de Sevilla, in which I am currently applying. This coming May 2025 I will be graduating and my post graduate plans simply consist of finding my way back to Sevilla whether that be through the masters program, teaching English, or simply working. The support in my housing accommodations, coursework, and excursions from my program opened my eyes to entirely new world of possibilities for my future and I could not be more grateful to have had such an impactful experience.

I had the incredible opportunity to attend a one-month course at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, and it was truly a rewarding experience. The course was divided into two parts: the first two weeks focused on advanced English, and the second two weeks on climate and climate change, explored through the lenses of geography, chemistry, physics, and other disciplines. The entire experience was wonderful. The diversity of the students coming from various countries made it an amazing chance to connect with people from different cultures. I made many new friends, and it was fascinating to share perspectives on such important global issues. The content was engaging and I learned a lot, especially in the second part of the course, which covered a range of scientific perspectives on climate change. The classes were not only informative but also interactive, with professors who genuinely cared about their students' understanding. They were enthusiastic about the topics, and that energy was contagious. We participated in various activities that were not only interesting but also helped us to better grasp the subject matter. The program was very well-organized, which made everything run smoothly. The course credits will also be useful for my future academic endeavors, and I’m grateful for that added benefit. Overall, it was a fantastic month. I gained knowledge, made international connections, and had an unforgettable time. I highly recommend this course to anyone looking to broaden their academic horizons while enjoying a supportive and vibrant learning environment.

I had visited Salamanca, Spain when I was studying abroad in high school. I fell in love with Salamanca and had decided I wanted to attend university there. Although I hadn’t applied to university back home, I applied to attend La Universidad de Salamanca through API for a semester. My experience through API was amazing. The leaders and coordinators were awesome and we’re always there for if we needed anything. One night I was feeling horribly sick and I called one of the leaders, Don Miguel and he personally came to pick me up in a taxi and took me to the hospital. It was very obvious that they cared about the well being of the students. There were so many activities set up for us throughout the semester to truly get us involved in the Spanish culture. As for the school, I truly enjoyed all my classes. I found myself genuinely excited to go class every morning. Throughout that semester last year, I have met so many friends that I can confidently say will be life long.

API assisted with my German studies language study abroad (LSA) during Summer 2023 - and I was amazed by the experiences they were able to put together for our group! Our on-the-ground coordinator Claudio made sure everything we possibly wanted to do was a possibility, including even sorting out a way for me to join a gym in Berlin for my months there. It's genuinely so helpful to have native Germans in country that can help you with planning, make recommendations, and generally support your transition to living abroad. I am so grateful for the experiences with API and think it really made the difference between a good study abroad experience and a great one! Thank you API.

Going to Poland with API was a wonderful experience. I had always wanted to go to Poland and when I was looking for a study abroad program and I saw Krakow I just had to go. With the help of API I was able to go study Polish language and History at the most prestiges University in Poland, Jagiellonian University. It was an experience I will always remember.

ORIENTATION The first weekend, API provided seminars for blending in with the Polish population, provided meals, and made efforts to get SIM cards activated.I think the most prominent error I found with the orientation was its length. It was about three days long and it was the immediate weekend following my arrival, which meant I had about half a day or less to settle in. I usually maintain a "go with the flow" attitude, but it's hard to do that when you are jet-lagged and in the midst of experiencing many new cultural behaviors (as well as the new faces of my colleagues in the API group). I partook in each orientation activity so I could understand Poland better. Looking back, orientation provided me with important advice I could not find online, yet my independent travels to about six cities in Poland helped me to understand the culture the most through my experiences. On our excursion to Budapest, I asked about their orientation and was shocked that it lasted two weeks. (Maybe they included their two week intensive period?) I understand that the education systems work differently and that the size of the cities may determine how long an orientation lasts, but I do think a longer orientation for Poland would be helpful to students, especially those who have never traveled abroad. All information provided was helpful and I think that with a couple more days students could adjust to the city without feeling rushed. Alternatively, this setup does push students to discover the culture on their own (with the option of asking the RD for advice) which is important for taking in the culture rather than trying to maintain a lifestyle of comfort that mirrors a person's home country. Had our orientation been two weeks long, I feel that my colleagues and I may have become too comfortable with purely interacting with each other rather than interacting with the people in Kraków. I think that transportation around the city could be covered a little more extensively, but the app Jakdojade helped my colleagues and me a lot. LIVING CONDITIONS AND FOOD OPTIONS I honestly have never lived as well as I did in Poland. The living situation was very spacious with three bedrooms (usually 2 with balconies), 1 full bathroom, a kitchen/dining room, and a front lobby area. The rooms had a bed, desk and chairs, two closets, a dresser, and two outlets along with a surge charger. I only plugged in 2-3 things at a time to prevent blowing fuses. The kitchen could have either a gas or electric stove and usually there was an oven. My flat did not have an oven so I just asked the students next door to use theirs. There was a fridge, a freezer, and a lot of cooking equipment. The washer was in the bathroom, and there were drying racks in the lobby closet--no dryer since they use too much energy. Next to the building I lived in there was a market (Nowy Kleparsz) across the street or you can walk less than 10 minutes to Stary Kleparsz. There are other markets that can be reached by tram and the żabka stores (convenience stores) are abundant. My flatmates and I also found the Lewiatan stores to be a good place for food. There were students who decided to eat at a new place every meal and they were able to walk or take a tram to those places. Concerning classes, you can walk (about 15 minutes) or take a tram part way to classes for IPHSS. The apartment is in a safe place, although I found all of Poland to be safe. There is a highway next to the complex so it can be slightly noisy, but other than the occasional horse-driven carriage the noise is not noticeable, especially at night. RESIDENT DIRECTOR My RD was wonderful. I could always contact him about anything (i.e. registering for non-program courses, figuring out the fuse box at 10 pm, activating my data for my SIM card, travel advice for friends or relatives who were visiting, even helping me to get an item mailed from an excursion city when I had run out of time to buy the item). I was impressed by his diligence to help me with even some of the most bizarre requests. I do know that some of my colleagues had some troubles, but I think that if you have patience, plan accordingly (a.k.a. work ahead), and maintain an attitude of acceptance for what can be done then acquiring help is no problem. In the instances where I could not get a problem solved the way I would have liked my RD worked with me to find a new solution. For instance, my non-program science course was canceled and I had to find a new course the same day. It was extremely stressful and I was unsure about how accepting my RD would be about this registration change. He was empathetic, understanding that I could not have helped this situation, and he helped me register promptly for a different course. CLASSES Classes can be once or twice a week. For Polish language, the two-week intensive met about 3 hours every weekday morning, but the language course during the semester met twice a week (2 hours each session). Most of my classes met once a week for 1.5-2 hours, although I did have a history course that was 3 hours. I think most of my group took 3-5 classes, but you can take more if you would like. Also, API allows students to take courses outside of Humanities and Social Sciences (IPHSS) as long as you have at least 2 IPHSS courses. Your site director will help with this process if you want to take courses outside the department. All of my professors taught differently using powerpoints, taking field trips, speaking to the class with or without visuals, having student demonstrations or presentations, or using lesson books. I only had to buy books for language courses. Just in case you are interested in taking any of the classes I took, and have questions, I have them listed here: Polish Cinema, Polish Language Breakthrough A2 + Intensive Course, History of Polish Culture, Poland in Europe in the 21st Century, Polish Literature in the 21st Century, Tropical Ecology. ACADEMIC RIGOR I study at a small, private school (Wilkes University) and my courses are rigorous especially since I am a biology major. The courses here are much easier and do not require as much effort (equivalent to my general education courses at home). I am accustomed to math, chemistry, and science courses with one or two electives (i.e. English, art history, music). This made it somewhat difficult to gauge how much effort was appropriate for each assignment. I didn't want to spend loads of time on something that might not even be graded and then spend little time on a project that was graded. To best judge this, you must talk directly to the instructors. It was challenging to change from a classroom setting of STEM courses with instructors that explained how natural systems work or how to complete calculations based on repetition and memorization (and some intuition or critical thinking). In Poland, my courses were more open to opinions and debate; they were also in topics that I had not been exposed to at all or had not been exposed to for at least two years. Although I could only complete one semester abroad, I think a year would be better to truly adjust to this type of learning. As a biology student, my critical thinking skills have been more developed by Jagiellonian University. This was a life-changing experience. My views, my study habits, and the way I interact with people have changed. About a month before leaving Poland, I began preparing myself to return home. I did not know how hard reverse culture shock was going to hit after an amazing opportunity, and unfortunately, I found it to be crippling to be back in the US. The one thing I would have changed is my methods of coping when I returned home. I wish I would have looked for interesting things around me that I took for granted every day. In Poland, I took nothing for granted and that's why every day felt fulfilling. This is the only thing I would change about any experience abroad I have taken or plan to take: find the fulfillment in each situation.

I studied abroad in Krakow with API during my senior year during the fall semester. It was one of the best experiences of my college career. The application process was effortless and my housing was taken care of before I arrived. I lived in a central location and could walk everywhere. All the staff, including the residential director were very helpful and made an effort to immerse us in Polish cultural activities. I loved Krakow and highly recommend this experience to anyone who is remotely interested in studying abroad in Eastern Europe!