SRAS

I absolutely loved my time as a student and intern in Warsaw! The classes were interesting and we often had guest lecturers that were specialists in the national/international security field. The classwork was light and at the end we had a big group project. The light amount of homework left us with time to go explore the city. After class we would go explore a new part of the city or go visit a museum or a palace. Poland has the best museums I've seen outside of America and I would definitely recommend seeing as many as possible! I found living in Warsaw to be very calming. It the biggest city in Poland but it wasn't overbearing. Transportation in the city is convenient. You can walk everywhere or you can get a bus pass, like I did, which was pretty cheap. The cost of living in Warsaw was extremely low, you don't have to worry about saving a ton of money to be able to visit. I know of a few students that did a weekend trip to Prague and they said it was a very cheap trip as well. Poland is also very welcoming to foreigners. Also, everyone I spoke to in Warsaw and Krakow spoke English - so don't be afraid to visit if you don't speak Polish! This is the best study abroad program, in my opinion. I earned three classes worth of credit and spent my summer studying what I was interested in, seeing new places everyday, and traveling to new cities and countries on the weekend!

This Spring 2020 I decided to choose SRAS to do my study abroad program, and I absolutely loved my time as a student in Moscow! At my home university I am a business major but thanks to SRAS I was able to attend a fantastic university called MGIMO. The classes were very interesting and related to Diplomacy and International relations. We often had very interesting guests specialist in the international and national fields. The classwork for me was a little bit tough but due to unfamiliarity to the major but overall very interesting classes. After class and during the weekend before the pandemic, we were able to visit the city and have tours thanks to SRAS to museums, national holidays events, we visited the Kremlin apart from other places. Moscow is a city worth visiting as there is a lot of things to see and do as it is considered one of the biggest cities in Europe, you will never get bored. Apart from the amazing opportunity to study abroad in another university and learn Russian in Moscow, you have the chance to go by train to near cities like Kazan or Saint Petersburg. This is a fantastic study abroad program, in my opinion. I earned six classes worth more than eighteen credits and spend my time learning a new language like Russian and visiting different places and cities over the weekend! I recommend the experience of studying abroad with SRAS.

I had an excellent experience in this course and learned a great deal about European history, politics and culture, both past and present. I look back on my experience in Warsaw as the moment that truly sparked my interest in public policy and international affairs, and can draw a line from my time in that program to my current occupation as an analyst in the federal government. I would highly recommend this course to anyone interested in history (particularly the history of WWII and the Cold War), foreign policy, and European affairs.