I am both happy and sad to be home. It feels great to see my family and escape the intense heat, but I miss the lifestyle I became accustomed to and the friends I met in Italy. It truly was an amazing two months traveling around Europe. One of the things I am most proud of is how much I improved in my Italian language skills. At the beginning of this program, I was able to speak in Italian, but it would take me a while to form sentences and I didn’t know all of the verb tenses. By the end of this experience, I was speaking fast and able to clearly say what I wanted to. I started having longer conversations with the people I met and I started receiving compliments on my speaking skills. Being able to speak in Italian made all of my hard work worthwhile. Looking back now, those conversations were some of my favorite moments from the entire summer.
I am so grateful for this grant and the opportunity it gave me to explore Italy and learn more about Italian culture. I traveled to many different places across Europe: Paris, London, Siena, Florence, Pisa, the southern coast of Sicily, Cinque Terre, the Amalfi coast, Rome, Punta Ala, Colle di Val d’Elsa, and Naples. I met a ton of amazing people from many different countries and have made lasting friendships.
