STUDY ABROAD.

My journey started in August 2019. I remember the night before leaving home questioning if I was making the right decision. My twin sister and friends were all about to start new chapters at their colleges and I was making the bold step moving to another country at just eighteen, knowing nobody. As soon as the plane landed in Rome, I immediately felt a sense of comfort. My time abroad pushed me to discover myself while facing challenges and experiencing realizations and insight about my career, along with life goals.

 

I was grateful to have arrived in Rome, with five strangers, in a beautiful apartment in the quiet neighborhood of Monteverde. My school, The American University of Rome, had a welcome event that same night, where I met friends, I will truly cherish forever. Those five strangers, like me, just came from various parts of the world to study: Bogotá, San Francisco, New Jersey, Tbilisi, New York, but by the end of our semester together, they became more than just roommates. Without my roommates, I would have struggled. We kept each other happy, motivated, and most importantly sane. This was all our first-time experiencing college in another country, and sometimes it was not easy. Whether it was struggling with our Italian exam, or oversleeping and missing class, we all were there for each other. The thing they don’t tell you about going aboard is it’s not the place, but it’s about the people you surround yourself with.

 

Traveling is one of the most valuable experiences in our lives, it is filled with exposure, knowledge, and personal development. During my time in Italy, I learned things about myself I thought I could never do. Whether it was navigating the city of Rome through the trams and busses, cooking dinners for all my roommates, traveling east, and so much more. To me, this trip was much more than that, and opened my eyes to a future career. Our school conducted multiple field trips to all the historical sites, and I would be lying if I said I had a favorite, because all were equally fascinating and beautiful. We went to museums, and factories where huge manufacturing plants were located. The business and economic side of Italy became extremely interesting to me and made me think about possibilities for my future.

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My experience in Italy was unforgettable, the biggest lessons I learned was living within the Italian culture. The Italian culture is unlike any other. Growing up in an American-Italian household, I knew how much family meant. When living in Rome, friends became family. The local tabacchi man became family, the women at the cafe became family, local waiters and bartenders in the piazza became family. Family is an extremely important value within the Italian culture and when you're eighteen living in a foreign country, friends truly become family. As the saying goes, "Entri come amici, vada come famiglia" (to enter as friends, & to go as family).

 

 My time in Italy was the perfect combination of a great culture with rich traditions and history. The people I met along my journey was a blessing, even the local citizens became friendly and treated me like no other. The most unforgettable thing I learned about Italy, as the locals would say, la vita a bella. Life is beautiful. I learned to cherish the moment, cherish the people you meet on your journey, cherish spending time with family, and most importantly be true to you. In conclusion, I am so grateful to have studied in Rome, my soul was touched, and a path was created for a future career. Every expectation was exceeded, which I will value for life.