CET Review

Having never travelled overseas before, let alone lived in a new and unfamiliar country, CET Prague opened up an entire world of future plans and experiences to me. I initially enrolled in this program because I could tailor my course schedule to my academic needs and interests as a Political Science major and History minor with an unfulfilled Arts credit, and I was excited to visit a new area of the world. Leaving the program, I had not only satisfied my academic and internship needs, but had acquired basic skills in a new language, a rich understanding of a new culture and history, and a city that I can always return to as a second home. CET Prague's best perks are the relatively small program size, the beautiful location of the academic building, the local faculty and roommates, and the priceless traveling seminar opportunities. On the other hand, you may find yourself stuck in a drab and overcrowded apartment forty minutes from class, which is either a plus (getting to live in a residential area outside of the noisy and tourist-saturated downtown, plus 3-4 potential new friends) or a minus (long commute, not very comfortable, plus 3-4 potential new enemies) depending on your point of view. Likewise, the academic building and national library's hours can be hard to plan around if you need a quiet and comfortable space away from home to study after classes (which can run late into the evening). Of course, studying abroad comes with certain anticipated discomforts if you are not used to travelling or living far from home, and you will quickly discover that your usual bad habits still follow you no matter where you are. As one such person, I do not think I had the "ideal" study abroad experience that some of my peers did - but with CET, I still had an incredible semester that I will never forget.