CIEE High School Summer Abroad: Art History in Rome

CIEE is a very life changing experience in my opinion. People rarely ever get the opportunity to study abroad as a High School student, so the fact that I got to experience firsthand the Roman lifestyle is something I’d never forget. The HSSA program accommodates basically everything you need, you get to learn about your city’s history. For example, the Rome program taught us about Ancient Rome history, the Empire, Renaissance, Baroque, and Modern Rome, and the visits to the ancient buildings like Vatican City and the Colosseum & Roman Forum where you learn about its history while you’re there, which helps you remember the lessons more in my opinion. Also, the Italian lifestyle is very fun to experience, since we spent three weeks with the Art, History and Culture program in Rome. Although I loved the HSSA program, and I hate to complain, there were some issues with the program which were a little off putting. For example, the planning of meals. You can’t simply book small restaurants with such a big group of kids. I know this is program specific, but we would spend hours in a single restaurant because of how “disorganized” the planning was. Also, the rooming situation in my program at least was extremely challenging, which is why I would give an 8 to recommend the program, but this is a major opportunity and so amazing, so I highly recommend for more teenagers to study abroad to learn and experience the cultures of different countries! I loved this program, and I know everyone’s experience is different, but I genuinely loved being here every day and getting to live like the Romans. Florence was beautiful, the Villa d’Este in Tivoli was beautiful and don’t even get me started on the Vatican. Truly an amazing experience

I feel that it’s a perfect opportunity to not only travel but to learn important life skills like time management. Also, one can learn responsibility. Personally, as a person who had never traveled before, it really was a good way to start.