IES Abroad Amsterdam

IES Amsterdam set me up for a great semester at Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. While the academics were very different than my home school, I was given resources for a smooth transition. Overall, I enjoyed my classes and was glad I was exposed to a different educational system. Outside of academics, I was given the opportunity to participate in the Erasmus Student Network international orientation weekend, where I made amazing connections with students from both America and other countries from all over Europe. This was a defining factor in my abroad experience and I recommend any student studying abroad in Amsterdam to participate. This orientation weekend was one of many events offered for international students studying in Amsterdam, and there was a constant stream of resources about traveling, night life, culture and music.

Overall, my experience was better than I could have imagined. The classes were fun, engaging and I learned tons of material I would not have back at my home university. The IES teachers were well versed in their subjects and had interesting life experience. It really helped me get a better picture of career options and ways to get there. The program staff was extremely helpful and down to Earth. They were always willing to help but did not try to micromanage everything. They also do a great job of sending out weekly emails to tell you whats going on in the city and ways to get involved. In addition, they send links to tons of volunteer activities that are a way to meet locals and really helped me feel like I was doing something to give back during my free time. It was really nice and helped push the students to be independent! I stayed in a more residential area with tons of families and animals really close to campus which was so convenient. I enjoyed the area but my only wish was to be closer to the action. Like I said, overall, the experience was wonderful and I glad I picked IES.

Studying abroad at IES was the best experience of my life. In fact, I had such a good time that it feels like a dream when I remember it, as if it did not even happen to me. The IES staff within Amsterdam were some of the most friendly people I've ever met. Additionally, I experienced the same kindness from the professors who gave lectures through IES. I would definitely recommend studying abroad, and maybe I am biased, but I would further recommend studying abroad in Amsterdam. Amsterdam has a rich history that shines through every city, especially in its architecture and art, as well as liberal practices that are both similar and different to the United States. Only at IES can one expect to find a extreme variety of possible locations and studies. Furthermore, I view the people that I met through IES as a family now, and IES in that way has definitely created lifelong friends.

Studying abroad with IES was amazing! I had never traveled out of the United States before, and IES did a great job of introducing me to a new country and getting me acclimated to a new environment. They facilitated trips for the group around the Netherlands and to Berlin and helped us avoid staying stuck in our comfort zone in Amsterdam. Our classes were so informative; I had never studied Dutch culture at all, and learning about it while exploring important and historic sites in the Netherlands allowed me to make much more salient connections that I can bring back to my home university. If I could study abroad again I would definitely choose an IES program, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a life-changing time abroad!

I know everyone says this, but studying abroad changed my life. I was fortunate enough to spend summer 2018 (June - July) in the IES Abroad “Amsterdam Summer - Society, Culture & Gender in Amsterdam” program. Since I was about 8 months old, I have been travelling, but the Netherlands was never somewhere that happened to be on my radar of travel. Finding an opportunity to live in a city I had never visited and a program a discipline that wholly fascinated me was pure serendipity. While abroad, I took 2 courses: "Sex and Science: Dutch Medicine & intersexuality" and "Art, gender, sexuality in Dutch seventeenth century". These courses were unlike anything I had taken before. As Creative Arts student at Stetson University, I'm required to take arts courses outside of my discipline (Theatre), but I had never taken any courses in Art History, so I was anxious coming into my course, but Dr. Judith Noorman took all of my worries away. Dr. Noorman, or Judith to her students, is an scholar in seventeenth century Dutch art, and she blessed us with her plethora of knowledge. Taking this class was like no other: every other day we would go to a museum and get to present on a piece of our choice as though we were art historians. Being surrounded by art for an entire summer not only made me appreciate paintings in a complex and nuanced manner, but it recharged my creative battery before the school year. “Sex and Science” was a sort of medical ethics course, and what I enjoyed the most about that course is that Professor Van de Berg (Nina) was learning alongside us. As a self-proclaimed “fellow student”, Nina asked us to delve deeper than surface level with our answers and challenged us to consider our responses from not only from our typical perspective as Americans, but also as citizens of the world. Aside from loving the courses, the IES Abroad Amsterdam program offers trips to places such as Zaans Schans, Delft, and even Berlin. Amsterdam is also a in a perfect location for independent travel. With an easily accessible airport and train system, I travelled over the weekends and even had an opportunity to visit a friend’s hometown who was an exchange student at my home university. If you are interested in studying abroad, I recommend going through IES Abroad: the staff members are helpful; the classes are informative, and the experience is unbelievable.

There is a reason Amsterdam has a reputation for being a great city. From nightlife to museums to shopping to a combination of modern technology and historic architecture, Amsterdam has it all. Since I grew up in a suburb and go to school in a college town in the United States, I wanted to experience the thrill of a big city, and Amsterdam did just that for me. There is always something to do in Amsterdam, and I wish I had more time to live there and experience everything I missed out on.

I had the most amazing time in Amsterdam studying Law and Criminology with the IES program. I was able to figure out that law was the path I want to take in my life by solely focusing on law classes during my time abroad (something I am unable to do in the US until law school). I was able to pick classes that fit my interest and had wonderful access to help if I ever feel I needed it. I met the most amazing people through our international apartment from all over the world that I will stay friends with forever. I wish I could participate in this program every year. I can't wait to return and see all of the IES employees!!

Studying abroad in Amsterdam was one of the best decisions I have ever made. IES Abroad provided all participants with an extensive orientation program that lasted a few days, and by the end, we all felt exceptionally prepared for anything that happened to us in the city. Our program staff were always willing to answer our questions and provide us with any recommendations for fun cultural activities taking place. Our housing was located remarkably close to the center of the city, and IES was able to help us get discounts on renting bikes for all of us to get around. Biking became a huge part of my life and was one of the most memorable parts of living in Amsterdam. At first biking seemed like it would be a very daunting activity in such a busy city, but the biking infrastructure is incredibly safe for even the most novice of bike riders. Almost everyone on our program grew super comfortable biking through the city, however, even if you didn't want to bike IES provided us with reloadable public transport cards to get around as well. Our program group grew very close and my roommate and I are still very good friends (I'm going to visit her soon!). Alongside taking classes at the IES center, we had the option to take classes at the University of Amsterdam, which was located only 10 minutes away from our housing. My UvA classes were wonderfully insightful, and helped me to explore some new academic areas of interest. IES also organized program-wide field trips and excursions that really helped get us out into the culture of the Netherlands. We went on biking trips to see the tulips and windmills, we went on a weekend trip to Rotterdam to see some cool modern architecture, and we also visited the Delft where we made our own Delft Blue tiles. Now that I'm back home, I miss Amsterdam every single day. I'm so glad that IES was able to give me this opportunity.