I would highly recommend the CIBS Italy Summer Study Abroad program. I got to see incredible places across Italy, including Florence, Rome, and Venice. The courses were also set up so that we only had class around three days a week plus a class trip. This gave us a three-day weekend to explore Italy by either staying in Florence or booking our own trips. On these weekends, I was able to go to Pisa, Cinque Terre, and Lake Como.
The courses offered for this trip are also very good. As a business major, you are able to get MGMT 311, a more challenging business course, out of the way. The class did require a good amount of outside studying, but it was definitely manageable. The other class, IBUS 310, was also a very useful course. It was unique in that we got to learn more about cultural intelligence from our textbooks and from the historical leaders of Italy. It also required a good amount of outside studying and textbook reading, but it was still manageable. It did still catch a few people off guard.
The professors for this trip were also outstanding. I genuinely believe they are some of my most favorite, if not my most favorite, professors I have ever had. The tests and courses were fair, and there were opportunities for us to get better grades through either extra assignments or participation. They were very good lecturers and also really fun people to be around. We got to know them better through the program, which was a very unique and rewarding experience, as we each were able to build stronger relationships with the professors.
Lastly, and probably most importantly, I was able to make some really good friends through this study abroad experience. I got to know people I already knew better, and I was also able to make entirely new friends. We had a blast exploring Italy together, and I already have plans with some of them to do things in College Station when I get back. I could also feel the Aggie Spirit very strongly, even while we were in Italy. We whooped (finally a junior), said howdy, did our wildcat, and even did the Aggie War Hymn in a few places on our last nights.
If you have the opportunity to do this study abroad, do it. It was so worth it even from just the courses you get from it, even though you get so much more than the courses. You get to explore Italy, make long-lasting relationships, and even learn more about yourself.
