My favorite part of the program was the strong community of international students. Masaryk University has a huge "erasmus" (European study abroad) community, so it was very easy to make friends, meet people, and find people who were experiencing the same things as you.

Additionally, traveling was great! Czech Republic is in a very central location, so there are so many different places to go on weekends... take advantage of that!

My favorite part of this program was the culture and diversity in the Czech Republic. I knew nothing about the country or language but I learned so much while I was there.

The people. Nothing can compare to the amazing people I met while abroad. It's so hard to put into words how much of a bond I created with everyone I met. Go abroad, meet as many people as you can, form everlasting relationships with them and never look back.

My favorite part of Masaryk was the hundreds of Erasmus students I got to meet from all over the world while living in my dormitory.

My favorite part about my semester abroad in the Czech Republic was the many opportunities to meet people from all over the world just in the university and dormitories. I made friends from so many countries and as a result, learned so much more about the world.

The location of my program combined with the different class structures made it really easy to be able to travel around Europe and really experience things abroad. The city itself was also the perfect college town with lots of things to do and opportunities to make a lot of friends.

It was great to learn about other people's perspectives while abroad, both in the classroom and out.

I found that communicating with locals (even though I couldn't speak Czech) and just doing daily things like going to the grocery store, walking around the city centre, or going to a ballet in the evening were really rewarding. As I did more of these things on my own, I started to feel more attached to the community of the city and country.

The most rewarding part of my experience was meeting so many people. I now have close friends from all over the world

I found studying in a unpopular destination the most rewarding. You become more in touch with the people, yourself and Europe while living everyday life. Brno, the second largest city in the Czech Republic is nothing like Prague (the capital) at all and that's what makes it so special.

The experiences that I gained while traveling were unlike any other. Relationships deepen and barriers are broken. I learned so much just from being in a different culture and among students from all around the world.

If you can, talk to recent students on what to pack, what to expect and places to check out in Brno. For me, it was helpful to get in touch with past KU students!

You don't necessarily have to learn the language of the country to get by.

Go with the flow. Especially in Czech Republic, there isn't much you can do if something doesn't go as planned. Everything always manages to fix itself one way or another. Take risks and experience as much as possible.

I took an International Relations course and two economics courses while I was abroad. By being abroad and having such diverse classes of students, I was able to learn more than in any other economics course that I took at KU. The exchange of ideas and view points was invaluable. However, most of my learning came outside of class. The cultural exchanges, events, and ways of daily life helped me with my communication skills and social skills. I learned a ridiculous amount of geography, how to plan better from all of the travel planning, and felt like I was taking a class in foreign governments just by hanging out with the other Erasmus students. I learned how to better connect with people who are not like myself and how to navigate while in difficult situations (literally and figuratively) and how to deal with travel problems and otherwise while not knowing the local language or geography.

Going to central Europe may not be the location you thought you wanted, but it was absolutely the best place I could have studied abroad.