Saturday, January 4, 2020 1:42 PM Going abroad is going to be a big step in my life. I’ve never been to Europe before so there’s a big part of me that doesn’t know what to expect at all from Italy. There are parts of my identity however, that I think will help me in…
Category: Italy: ISA Rome
Reflecting on My Identity
Looking back on my experience studying abroad I see how my identity as an American definitely impacted my expectations. It’s actually pretty sad how little I knew about other cultures and that most of my assumptions were based on stereotypes. I think my nationality has never really seemed to be a main part of my…
Blog Post #5
My semester abroad was amazing. It was an experience I believe everybody should live at least once in a lifetime. The last few weeks of the semester were a little busy but did not stop me from having fun and discovering new places in Rome. With my friends I discovered some new restaurants that were…
Preparing for a Semester in Rome
From the start of the semester, I have held tight to the idea that I would be spending this upcoming semester in Rome. Spending the entirety of my life living in suburban Central Florida, with short-term visits to cities of cultures vastly different from my own, I envisioned what life would look like living in…
11 Days Until I Leave For Rome by Allison van Tilborgh
It is not the fear of a foreign land, language, or culture that frightens me. It is the feeling of doing something on my own.
Grazie per tutto, Roma!
After spending 4 months in the incredible, eternal city of Rome, I feel as though I need to reintroduce myself to my family, friends, and acquaintances. Studying abroad was the best experience of my entire life, and I have grown more in these 4 short months than all of my other years combined. Of course,…
Leaving Rome: A Reflection
Today, I leave the city I’ve called home for 109 days. Rome has been wonderful and I loved the city, but I realized in these last few weeks that it’s the people who have made my time here truly great. I wasn’t expecting to make close friendships while studying abroad, and now I have friends…
The Last Month in Rome
The study abroad semester is almost over, classes are starting to get a little harder, but I had a great month of November. During the last month here, I didn’t travel much because I wanted to finish discovering Rome. On the first weekend of November I went to Florence with some friends because I felt…
Studying Abroad: Expectation vs Reality
Like most people, I had a fantasy in my mind before studying abroad of what it was going to be like. I thought that I would travel to a new country every weekend, never have to do homework, become best friends with my roommates and that we would cook dinner all together, that I would…
Second Month in Rome
By now, it has been two months since I first arrived. Now I know how to speak a little bit of Italian, I’ve been taking Italian classes every school day. I am able to communicate at the restaurant and at the supermarket and I am able to understand most of what I read. I know…