Reflections
Studying abroad has been a wonderful experience which taught me so much about myself and others through cultural immersion and travel!
Before:
Leading up to this trip, I didn’t know what to expect. This program drew me in because of the class options and the freedom the program offered. After looking into a few programs, I liked the idea of being able to have more independence to meet new people, travel on weekends, and explore the city anytime there wasn’t class. Florence drew me in because the rich art, history, and beauty it has to offer. I watched tons of videos and looked at pictures of the city and I was sold!
I had never traveled abroad before, so thinking about having my first experience abroad alone was overwhelming at first. I wanted to have this experience to explore and experience Italy, but also wanted to gain a better understanding of myself. When I first signed up for this program, I didn’t know of anyone else coming, but as time went on, I found out some of my friends from class had signed up for the trip as well. Now that I knew someone to be my roommate when I got to Florence, I was even more excited for the trip and for all the friends and people we would meet along the way. Going into this trip, I hoped to feel immersed in Italian culture and to learn about the country. I also hoped to grow as an individual through problem solving and traveling independently while here. Another goal of mine was to find confidence in what I want to do in life and the path I want to take post-graduation. I also hoped to meet new people, and I have made friendships that will last forever!
During:
This program has taught me a lot about Italian culture, history, and tradition as well as about myself as an individual! Going to the museums through my class allowed me to learn about the history of Florence. I thought learning about the history of the Medici family and their impact on Tuscany was interesting, since their rule was very prominent, and their impacts are seen throughout Italy to this day.
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Other than the museums, traveling every weekend has taught me a lot about other cities. Traveling each weekend around Italy have been some of my favorite experience so far. The first weekend here, my roommates and I went to Cinque Terre. This daytrip gave me goosebumps. We booked a train, got there in no-time, and ended up on a boat seeing all the towns in Cinque Terre. This was our first experience outside of Florence, and it was one I will never forget. It taught our group how to use the train system and gave us confidence to plan all of our other weekend trips from then on.
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I ran into a few issues on my travels but there wasn’t anything we couldn’t overcome. In Lake Como, we got off the train and the town we were in was small. We called a bunch of taxi companies, and there were none available and our AirBnB was an hour walk on a road meant only for cars. Our group felt a bit panicked, but we decided to regroup, and we tried to ask some local people what we should do. After no luck, our AirBnB host came to the rescue after we contacted her to tell her our problem. She brought two cars to come pick us up and helped us find a taxi company which we were able to use the rest of the weekend. With some problem solving we were able to make it to the house and have one of the best weekends of our time here!
This program has taught me so much about problem-solving and the importance of keeping calm in times of panic. There were a few times when our trains didn’t work out, but anytime we took a deep breath and brainstormed solutions we were able to solve our issues in no-time.
After:
After this program, I can say with 100% confidence that I gained the knowledge and personal growth that I wanted to when coming into this experience. As a health science major, I have always prioritized learning the material from the book and getting good grades on exams. Taking a class about global perspectives and a cooking course has showed me the importance of experiencing things, exploring, and immersing myself somewhere to truly learn about it. Going on field visits has showed me the importance of experiencing something outside of a book to truly understand it. I’ve realized the importance of learning about other cultures and how important it is to see how other people live and the values they hold close. Being open-minded has always been important to me and this program has showed me that open-mindedness can help in the immersion and understanding of other cultures.
Before studying abroad, I felt nervous about choosing my career path, since I will begin to apply to graduate programs in the beginning of fall semester. Being here helped me have a new perspective on picking a career and the path it takes to get there. Not everyone has three steps ahead mapped out, and that is okay. Learning and figuring out your passions along the way is what matters. This experience has emphasized my want to work with people in my future career. Seeing the inaccessibility of Florence has inspired me to continue on a path to support people with disabilities in whatever career I am in. The adaptation and problem solving skills I have learned throughout this experience have also helped me with the confidence I will need in any career-path or graduate program.