When the Italian department announced that Italian would officially become a major at Alabama there were two things I knew I had to do. The first thing was to declare Italian as my second major and the second thing was to study abroad in Italy. My passion for Italian language began to develop during my freshmen year of high school when I started studying the language. In high school I participated in a two week Italian exchange program where a student from Italy came to stay with me and my family for two weeks and one year later I went to stay with her and her family for two weeks. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I have dreamed about going back to Italy since the day I left.
Declaring Italian as my second major added a good chunk of courses to the required courses I would need to complete in order to graduate. When I found out about the Italian Language & Culture trip to Florence, Italy, I knew that I needed to go; not only just because I have been wanting to get back to the country, but also because it would be an easy and beneficial way to get two of my Italian courses out of the way and keep me on track to graduate in four years. After collecting some basic information about the trip I was thrilled and even more motivated to actually go because of the amazing price. At Alabama it costs an out-of-state student around $1,000 per credit for summer courses. The price of this trip in particular is so great that it will cost me about half the price to take two courses in Italy than it would for me to take them in Tuscaloosa. Who could complain about that? After all, they say the best way to learn about culture and language is to actually live in another country and experience for yourself.
I am so thrilled about this opportunity and can’t wait to see all that Italy has in store for me this time around!
Boarding the plane!