Issa Selma, CIE/Cebu :  Summer 2007-Spain

   When I turned seventeen, I told my mom that I didn’t want to have a grand debut party on my 18th birthday. I told her that I wanted to travel instead to “broaden my horizons”.Mommy remembered that she read a few months earlier that the Institute for Foreign Study send groups of young students to another country for an immersion program. Mom  asked me if I wanted to join a 5-week Spain immersion program for summer as their advanced birthday gift for September! I was dumbfounded. I finally got what I wanted.. traveling on my own with a group of new friends!!!

EJ Legaspi, ADMU : Summer 1994-England
IFS Group Leader Oxford 2006/ Germany 2008.

   “I’m sure that many great things have already been said about IFS’s Summer Program. I was trying to stay away from phrases like “ a life-changing experience” or “a journey of a lifetime”. However, I must confess that those clichés do apply and that my only contribution to the parent’s anthology of praises is to reaffirm that the IFS experience is a life-changing journey.”

Elaine Abonal, Assumption San Lorenzo. USA Exchange Student 2000

   “ The ten months I spent as an exchange student changed how I saw the world in a lot of ways… I lived in Appleton,Wisconsin, a city with a population of 70,000 .. no traffic jams and they only had one major mall.. I was placed with the best family in the world. They treated me like their very own…”

Nenuca Syquia, UA&P. Spain  2005 – Three month Spanish Course

   “Had I not gone, I wonder now if I would have every discovered Salamanca a small but well-known city that I somehow had never heard of in all my years of traveling. Before September of last year, its name meant absolutely nothing to me. Should someone have mentioned Salamanca to me, I probably would have answered, “ Excuse me? Salamander?” But now, nine months later, the mere mention of the word conjures up some of the happiest memories and poignant sights of my life.”

Sharon E. Ambas, Summer 1995 Oxford.

   Hi! I joined the summer program in Oxford in 1995. I was a third year MassComm student in St. Paul College, QC then. Indeed it was an experience I will never forget. I am grateful for the things I’ve learned and the friends I’ve met along the way. I will always hold the memories close to my heart. I’ve been recommending it to friends and will look forward when I can have my daughter and son join one of your programs when they are old enough to do so. More power and goodluck in all your future endeavors! God bless!”