Study Abroad Programs in Akureyri, Iceland

There are plenty of opportunities to engage with the material and tailor the rigor to what you're looking for. The program directors are wonderful, and care very much about their students. Everyone speaks very good English, but speaking Icelandic helps you to engage with the culture and talk to the locals better. There are language lessons covering the basics with this program, and the homestay portion really helps to gain immersion if you're looking to learn more of the language, and engage with the people. I gained an understanding of climate change that I didn't have the same way before--actually being in a place that has experienced great warming and extreme weather of all sorts is very different from learning about it in classes. I also gained some really close friends, colleagues, and a sense of direction for my future. There are active outdoorsy adventures as part of the field work portion of this experience, be prepared for the weather and and these are great fun as well as a rich educational experience. Also beware of the darkness in winter, stay active, stay social, and give yourself grace.

This experience was nothing short of life-changing. The nature of a program like this is to learn as much about yourself as you do the environment & climate change. Why is this? The nature of a program like this attracts independent, curious, and ambitious students who don't want a typical abroad experience, and brings them to one of the most sparsely populated and barren countries on Earth. If an experience like this sounds up your alley, it will change your life. I was heading into this abroad semester hoping to get some direction on where I wanted to focus my broad education in environmental studies, and getting exposed to so many disciplines and professionals across niches really gave me some idea of where to go. The students I studied with were wonderful, all independent like me, which was nice because we were all there for our own personal reasons, but we enjoyed each other's company and had so much fun together. On the homestays: If you are hesitant about the idea of living with a host family, I challenge you to embrace it with open arms. The Icelandic culture is so warm and humorous, and my host family filled me with so much laughter (and candy). The program director and assistant director were some of the warmest and most thoughtful educators, and I really can't say enough pleasant things about them. Overall, I learned so much during my semester abroad in Iceland and would recommend this program to anyone who is not afraid to spend some time alone with their thoughts, excited to seek out knowledge (this program requires you to be high agency to extract the most value), and ready to immerse themselves in a new and different culture. Overall 10/10.