As part of the Connecticut College experience, it is common for students to study away during a semester or summer. Last week, I was accepted to study abroad in Milan, Italy, for the spring semester! I will be spending the whole semester abroad, studying at the Universita Boccini and living in an apartment in northern Italy. 

I grew up in an Italian household, so I am looking forward to being further immersed in my heritage. At age 4, I learned my first grammatically correct Italian sentence — maí basta. It translates to "never enough" in English. Between the ages of 6 and 8, I was trained to taste the difference between Swedish and Italian meatballs.

As a self-designed new media studies minor, I am looking forward to taking full advantage of multimedia courses and opportunities outside of Conn. As a part of the business studies program in Milan, I will be able to attend Milanese Fashion Week in March and a taping of a Milan TV news series. I have even registered for the course "Culture and Cuisine of Italy," which includes cooking lessons led by the Casa Buitoni chef at the Buitoni headquarters, a major pasta trademark recognized around the world.

I am most excited to immerse myself in the culture and travel around the rest of Italy and Europe. My study away program has already planned two field trips, including skiing in the Alps and swimming off the coast of Cinque Terre.

When I return, I'm sure that I'll bring new perspectives to my class discussions and assignments at Conn but, for the moment, I'm just excited to go on this new adventure!