ABBEY ROAD TAKES ON GLOBAL WARMING!

Abbey Road has answered the call to go green with its Tree Per Trip and Green Ticket programs for students.

“President Obama has called for Americans to do more for the environment,” said Abbey Road Programs’ founder and President, Dr. Arthur Kian. “We’re doing our part, and we challenge other travel study and educational programs to do the same.”

Abbey Road Programs will plant one tree for every student who travels with the company this summer as part of its Tree Per Trip Program.

Abbey Road’s Green Ticket Scholarship is available to students ages 14-18 who have exhibited a commitment to the environment through their school or community. One full, all expenses paid Green Ticket Scholarship and two partial (airfare paid) scholarships will be offered in 2009.

Students who have done work in the areas of global warming, biodiversity, ecosystem preservation, toxic waste reduction, deforestation, energy conservation, recycling, preservation of endangered species are encouraged to apply to the Green Ticket Scholarship Program.

Over 600 students participated in Abbey Road programs in the summer of 2009.

FLORENCE ART ALUMNA SHARES HER EXPERIENCE

Emily Kissenberth, a New Jersey native and alum of the Florence Art '09 Program, shared these delightful and enthusiastic words with us about her summer experience with Abbey Road. It's always fun to hear first-hand accounts from students so we thank you for your input, Em!

"I explain my time in Florence as exciting and informative, but more then that I consider it life changing and inspiring. When I first stepped off the plane in Italy, I felt nervous and confused, I was in a place that I have never been, I felt isolated because I couldn’t communicate, and overwhelmed because I was jet-lagged, tired, and I wanted to hide. But then Stefano, who I later found out would be my art history teacher, came around the corner, with a huge sign that read “Abbey Road! Emily, Mica, Eden?” and a huge smile. Suddenly I felt relieved and I excited for the upcoming month.
The most important aspect of living in Italy was figuring out how to live with five other people that I have never met in my life. The six of us were from all over the world, stretching from Brasilia to New York City and from small town Florida to Boston. We were all so different but bonded over the fact that we were all first time visitors to Italy and we were all absolutely confused about how to start our life for the next month. We stayed up late and played cards, learned to cook authentic Italian meals and made messes with our bubbly cooking instructor, William, laughed and talked about our lives at home, scattered makeup and hair products all over the apartment, hosted residence night at least weekly by inviting everyone to come and hangout with us, but most importantly we helped each other with our work and sat down and made art together. We all shared a simple interest and we all helped each other grow individually. For me, being surrounded by centuries of fine art and living with five other artists was the most inspiring thing about being in Italy.
My main class was oil painting, which I had in the morning. I have never been so excited to wake up at 7 o’clock in my whole life. We went to our studio and worked until 11:30. Antonio, my painting instructor, was so talented and inspiring, and I think I have completed some of my best work while working with him. Also, there were only 7 other students in my class, so it made time for a lot of personal teaching and lessons from my instructor. In the afternoon I had art history with Stefano. He is so smart and knows so much information about art in Florence and Rome. I was really thankful that I chose to take art history because as a freshman in college I am taking art history now, being in Italy and seeing all the paintings in real life that I am learning about has made it much more interesting.
Most importantly, being in Florence, with a helpful, caring staff, meeting new people that are now life long friends has been the best experience in my life so far. Every time i see something that reminds me of my trip, I just smile, because all I have are good memories and stories. There is nothing like being in a beautiful country, filled with ancient artwork that built the framework of want I want to pursue for the rest of my life. I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to go to Florence and participate in Abbey Road Summer Programs. " -EMILY KISSENBERTH, FLORENCE ART, SUMMER 2009

NEW BLOG!!!!!

WELCOME TO ABBEY ROAD'S BRAND SPANKIN' NEW BLOG!
This is officially our very first post! Check back often as we plan on posting and uploading new content all the time including exciting news, info, photos, and other media about what's going on with the company, the staff, alumni, and the many amazing programs that we offer.
The goal is for this to be a very interactive space for both prospective students interested in studying abroad with Abbey Road and for student alumni who want to share their own personal experiences. In other words, we want to hear from you! If you have any great photos, stories or tips from your own experience abroad (which we know you do) that you would like to share, let's put them on the site! That way, our content will always be fresh, providing a wide-range of unique, fun content. In a sense, the blog is simply another format of sharing information about the company's mission through constant updates covering everything from staff news, alumni news, company news, and anything else anyone would like to see addressed on the site. It is designed for anyone who wants to find out more about the benefits of studying abroad, learning foreign languages, and experiencing cultures other than their own.

For those of you not familiar with us:

Abbey Road was founded by Stanford University alumni and operated by experienced professionals from other top schools such as Harvard, Yale, and NYU, Abbey Road Programs brings together a staff team with more than fifteen years of practice in the fields of international student exchange, travel, and education.
At Abbey Road, we take great pride in our faculty and staff. Our full-time and summer staff directors, coordinators, instructors and resident advisors are experienced, dedicated and caring individuals carefully selected and screened. Many of our summer staff and faculty are talented university professors and instructors, high school teachers, college administrators, and advanced graduate and high qualified college graduates. We maintain a minimum ratio of 1 staff member for every 8 students.

We follow very simple principles:

Immersion, Enrichment and Growth

Our mission is to develop summer immersion programs for high school students that facilitate cross-cultural understanding and enrichment by providing a unique opportunity for: cultural immersion, intensive language study, exposure to new academic subjects, travel excursions, recreational activities, personal growth, and building life-long friendships.

Safety, Organization and Personal Attention
We put a particular emphasis on personal attention, high quality of academic, cultural and recreational programs, strong organization, and above all - safety.