And So The Adventure Begins

Hello! Welcome to my first blog post, I hope you stick around to watch and read my journey. My main purpose for starting this blog is to have one place to put all my stories, pictures, and thoughts about my study abroad experience. I get the AMAZING opportunity to go to Rome for the whole Fall 2019 semester. The program that I am going on is called the Rome Empower program and it is through the University of St. Thomas. While in Rome, I will be staying at the Bernardi Campus, which is owned and run through St. Thomas. The Campus is located less than a 30 minute walk to Vatican City which excites me so much, as you could have guessed. This fall I will be taking a full 18 credit course load, which is not so bad considering classes are only Monday-Thursday and I am in such a beautiful setting. The courses I will be taking are a Theology, Philosophy, English class, Intensive Italian, and Art History. I am absolutely stoked for all my classes as they are all in the liberal arts and humanities which is my comfort zone. I am ready to be pushed out of my comfort zone though because I can only imagine how different the teaching and learning styles will be in Italy compared to the United States. I am also ready to be a complete know-it-all in my Art History class because come on, a Roman Art and Architecture class taught IN ROME is like a dream come true and an area of real interest for me.

As I prepare to fly out on September 6, I am reminded about grateful I am for my friends and family that are around me. As much as I do not want to get home sick, I know that I will. So, for these last two weeks that I have at home I am trying to spend the most time with those I love the most. This is proving to be a vital pre-abroad process for me as I am starting to realize that I will not be able to see, hug, or talk to them face to face in four months. Along with spending time with my family and friends I am working on getting my rooms organized (which my parents love), making sure I have copies of all my important documents, and thinking about how I am going to successfully pack for four months. I have been preparing for this since early 2019 so you could say that I am getting quite antsy for it to start. In my mind I have many preconceived notions and ideas about how things might be... How long do you think it will take for all of these things to be completely blown out of the water? Haha, I really am looking forward to this experience and I hope that you stick around to see all that I do!

"Travel is not reward for working, it's education for living." -Anthony Bourdain