Multi-Country Study Abroad in Business / Communications in Europe

I am so happy, I will recommend it to everyone at my home place. It has been so cool to basically have a guided yet laid-back tour across Europe.

You are all amazing, the perfect balance of being there to support us but still giving us tons of freedom. Went to 2 professional visits, but they were super cool. felt I learned a lot and they were interesting.

The independent cultural visits were encouraging us to get out and see the amazing sights is perfect. It made me appreciate where I was so much more.
The accommodation was amazing!

Participating in the Forum-Nexus Study Abroad program was a mixed experience. While it provided some great travel opportunities and decent academic options, there were significant issues that made it difficult to fully enjoy the program.

One of the most glaring problems was the lack of diversity amongst students. The overwhelming majority of participants were from the southern United States, making it feel very insular. Additionally, there was a noticeable absence of people of colour, LGBTQ+ individuals, and politically progressive students. The program had a heavy presence of conservative, highly religious individuals: some of whom expressed extreme views, including transphobia, misogyny, racism, and homophobia. The experience of being told that “the devil plants a seed in queer people” was beyond unsettling.

One program leader did make an effort to ask me how they could work on diversifying the program, which I appreciated. However, the lack of action and the continued alienation of non-conservative students made it feel like more of a token inquiry rather than a real commitment to change.
The leadership of the program was inconsistent at best. While one of the leaders was available to take walks with a student who was struggling with personal conflicts, this support felt somewhat inappropriate. Furthermore, professionalism was lacking amongst some of the leaders. Three out of the four brought their spouses along, and while one spouse contributed a useful lecture in their field of expertise, the others felt like they were enjoying a vacation on our dime. It was frustrating to see our already high program fees seemingly subsidizing their expenses.

One of the lecturers was knowledgeable and engaging, but his temperamental outburst in France, directed at students because he was frustrated with someone outside of the program, was completely unprofessional. Students deserve respect, and this kind of behaviour is unacceptable.

Additionally, while the program staff provided some assistance with logistics like sightseeing recommendations, there were moments when help felt inconsistent. For example, when a student’s laptop broke, while a program leader did attempt to fix it, no one offered to assist this student in finding a repair shop in a foreign city.

The costs associated with sightseeing were another frustration. Despite the already high program price, we had to cover all entrance fees for attractions, making the trip significantly more expensive than initially advertised.

The professional visits were hit or miss. Some were relevant and insightful, but others, like a jewelry store visit, felt completely disconnected from our studies.

Despite these frustrations, there were positives. The hotels were generally high quality, the course options were good, and the locations we visited were stunning. I managed to make a couple of close friends who became my lifeline amongst the stifling conservatism of our group. The recommendations provided for sightseeing and local attractions were also helpful.

Forum-Nexus has the potential to be a great study abroad program, but it is plagued by serious issues in leadership, professionalism, and inclusivity. If the program wants to be truly global and welcoming, it needs to diversify its student body, ensure a professional and respectful environment, and provide more transparency on costs. Until then, I would caution students, especially those who are not conservative, religious, and/or American, to think twice before enrolling.

I had so much fun than I had ever expected. I am happy to participate, learn a lot, and make many new friends. It was awesome to see many different cities.

The staff was all awesome, all were very friendly and helpful. No matter the situation, they all seemed to care very much for each and every student. The professional visits were honestly much better than what I expected. The cultural visits were very helpful. All of the hotels we stayed in were very nice, i didn't have any problems at any of them.

I loved that we kept moving to different cities, and got to see and learn so much. Very welcoming and helpful staff. I enjoyed the professional visits, I think they were good just to learn about things you would never think to visit by yourself. Hotels are 10/10. I loved traveling and going with the flow, I had so much fun and I hope I can do this every day. EU was much more necessary than I thought it would be. it is nice to learn about new places, and get a better understanding of their culture and heritage.

This was the best month of my life. I had so much fun during this program and I learned so much. I loved how much we moved around. The people on the trip were amazing. I got to experience so many different cultures and learn about many different ways of life. There is learning that happens in the classroom and out and about in the cities. The food is amazing everywhere we went. With all of the different locations, lots of variety was involved with the food. The places that we stayed at were also amazing. I recommend this program to everyone.

The ultimate summer with Forum-Nexus was an experience of a lifetime! I met incredible people from all over the world that turned into long lasting friends and teachers that turned into mentors. As a student athlete in college it was never possible for me to study abroad for a semester due to my training schedule but FN was the perfect program to enable me to experience the abroad study experience in one month. I loved the unique experience of moving from place to place while studying because I like to "do it all." Dr H always gave us the local tips and insight to travel with confidence, not to mention the best sites to see so we would hit the ground running and maximize our time. From helping me earn credits for my graduate degree, to inspiring my career with the professional visits, I'll never forget my summer with FN!

Forum-Nexus was so fun and the best way to go abroad!! Because of covid spiking early in the year, FN decided to stay in 1 country for the summer, but we traveled to multiple cities and it was amazing! I love that the program is (usually) multi-country and multi-city, because you can see so much of the world and experience different cultures. This summer we went to Rome, Florence, Milan, Lake Garda, and Venice. It was so fun and each city was so different. We also were able to go on weekend trips if we wanted and I went to Croatia which was so cool. The professors are so nice and accommodating. Yes, you have school work but it is manageable and they understand that traveling the world and new experiences outside of the classroom are important too. You have the freedom to do what you want in your free-time. The professional visits were also really cool! They are to interesting places like the Gucci Museum in Florence and a gelato factory in Bergamo. The hotels were also super nice and the breakfast was so good too. I traveled with some high school friends and FN accommodated us so we were in a room for 3 every time and we all had a bed, not a cot or anything. Thank you Forum-Nexus for the best summer ever!