The expe­ri­ence of study­ing abroad is euphor­ic. It is a time in your life where you tru­ly dis­cov­er who you are, while learn­ing so much around you. The first café I stum­bled upon in Flo­rence, Italy, would become my favorite café dur­ing my time abroad. Café Bel­lani holds a spe­cial place in my heart, locat­ed in the Piaz­za dei Pit­ti, and the staff became like fam­i­ly. I found fresh espres­so poured into an iced ​“café lat­te” with the smell of warm pas­tries min­gling to be a wel­com­ing refresh­ness to every morn­ing. I would walk away from Ponte Vec­chio, a pop­u­lar tourist des­ti­na­tion, wan­der­ing through the cob­ble­stone, cen­tu­ry-old streets, while the church bells echoed along. It tru­ly is a mag­i­cal place. 

On June 10, 2025, I embarked on an adven­ture of a life­time. After trav­el­ing 21 hours alone, with very lit­tle sleep and two lay­overs, I final­ly made it. Arriv­ing in Italy was stress­ful, to say the least. A new place always comes with new chal­lenges, ones that must be con­quered head-on, a place to gain com­plete con­fi­dence in your­self. My apart­ment was very cozy and locat­ed near many mar­kets, shops, fruit stands, and cafés, with every­thing with­in walk­ing dis­tance. I chose to study with Accad­e­mia Ital­iana as my uni­ver­si­ty abroad, a place that merges art with the sim­ple beau­ties around it. This deci­sion to study abroad was made in Novem­ber 2024, and very lit­tle infor­ma­tion was pro­vid­ed about the over­all pro­gram. I chose this pro­gram because it aligned with my pas­sion for Inte­ri­or Design, while also pro­vid­ing an oppor­tu­ni­ty to explore my inter­est in pho­tog­ra­phy. With slight hes­i­ta­tion and all the unknowns ahead, I applied, was accept­ed, fig­ured out my finan­cial aid, booked the plane tick­et, and went. I enrolled in two class­es, Pho­tog­ra­phy and Com­mer­cial Inte­ri­or Design. It was six cred­its, six weeks, and time to learn. 

Ori­en­ta­tion took place first, and this was the oppor­tu­ni­ty to meet friends and become more extro­vert­ed than ever before. Com­ing to Italy, I knew no one; how­ev­er, after the first few days, a group was formed, and strangers became friends. Mon­day class­es start­ed, and I was very for­tu­nate to have three indi­vid­u­als from my new friend group in my class­es, mak­ing the tran­si­tion more seam­less. Each morn­ing, as I walked to class, I learned to take the oth­er bridges when Ponte Vec­chio was flood­ed with tourists. The sun­light would shine bright­ly, spilling across Flo­rence and mak­ing the Arno Riv­er shim­mer beau­ti­ful­ly. Around me, locals and tourists would linger on their way to their des­ti­na­tions; A stu­dent walk­ing to class, a local head­ing to work, and a tourist soak­ing in every detail of the remark­able city. 

Dur­ing the week­ends, I would trav­el around Italy, vis­it­ing nine places in total: San Gimignano, Siena, Man­tua, Verona, Pisa, the Amal­fi Coast, Pom­pei, Rome, and Venice. Study­ing abroad isn’t just about study­ing; it’s also about explor­ing and being spon­ta­neous. Liv­ing in Flo­rence opened the door to some of Italy’s most his­tor­i­cal won­ders. My per­son­al favorite expe­ri­ences were vis­it­ing Rome, Venice, Verona, and the Amal­fi Coast. Although every inch of Italy is extra­or­di­nary, these places are tru­ly charm­ing to visit.

Rome gen­uine­ly is the Eter­nal City, where ancient ruins stand beside today’s soci­ety, vis­it­ing mon­u­ments like the Colos­se­um, Roman Forum, Tre­vi Foun­tain, and the Vat­i­can City. Venice enchants with its canals that flow through the city, fea­tur­ing beau­ti­ful Venet­ian Goth­ic Archi­tec­ture and is also known for its cen­turies-old tra­di­tion of breath­tak­ing blown Mura­no glass. Verona, the city famous for Romeo and Juli­et, has a roman­tic atmos­phere that lingers in the air. Medieval charm mixed with mod­ern soci­ety, live­ly piaz­zas, scenic views, and his­to­ry laid through­out the streets, the warmth of local life is felt in every cor­ner. Final­ly, the Amal­fi Coast daz­zles the Mediter­ranean Sea with its dra­mat­ic cliffs, pas­tel-col­ored hous­es, and sparkling views. There are wind­ing roads and out­door adven­tures wait­ing to be dis­cov­ered. Beyond the beach­es, there is fan­tas­tic food, large home­grown lemons, and the best lemon slushy you will ever eat. Each of these des­ti­na­tions cre­at­ed a sum­mer filled with mem­o­ries, laugh­ter, and learn­ing expe­ri­ences that will last a lifetime. 

My advice to schol­ars who are hes­i­tant or con­sid­er­ing study­ing abroad: go for it! There is no bet­ter oppor­tu­ni­ty than now, when you are a col­lege stu­dent with access to resources that can help you con­quer this dream. Embrace all the unknowns, you nev­er ful­ly know what is out there wait­ing for you to explore! Growth comes from step­ping out­side your com­fort zone and gain­ing more inde­pen­dence with­in your­self. Invest in your­self and expe­ri­ences, not just the cred­its need­ed to grad­u­ate; mem­o­ries are worth a life­time. These are cul­tur­al insights and sto­ries that will stay with you longer than grades, and learn­ing to cher­ish every aspect of being a stu­dent abroad is a valu­able expe­ri­ence. This is a rare oppor­tu­ni­ty that not all stu­dents get to expe­ri­ence, and there are few times in your life when you have the free­dom to live abroad and learn every aspect of dai­ly life in a new coun­try with new rou­tines, restau­rants, cafés, and gro­cery stores. By study­ing abroad you get to tru­ly explore every area around you in this new country!