This was my last week in Rome, as I write this, I’m on my way back to Seattle and taking some time to reflect on my time here.
Something I realized over time is that, personally, studying abroad wasn’t some life changing experience that altered the way I see the world, at least not in the way I thought it would. From the moment I was signed up for the program, I feel like I was constantly being told “oh this is going to change your life”. But with this expectation I arrived in Italy and at times was just a little confused, looking out for the day that I would supposedly become another, better person. But in reality, what changed came in much smaller and progressive steps/moments. With a new place didn’t come a new person, but instead I think I took a lot of steps towards becoming a more independent person while also learning how to be happy with just my own presence. I learned what areas within myself I want to work more on but know it takes patience and time. With this I’ve found that I’ve to grown understand myself, my needs, and when to stand up for myself a little bit better. And with exposure to classes focused on the refugee experience combined with service learning, my mind and empathetic ability has expanded. I would say that the empathy is something I already came into this program with, my ability to empathize is one of the things I love about myself, but now I have the knowledge and real-life experience to go along with it. I think there’s is always space to grow in these areas of life and definitely a lot more space for it in my life, which will probably always be a constant.
In honors 284 I found that I had the creativity to complete our main project, a video about the agriculture in Italy and its history as well as the importance of laborers. This was something I really did doubt myself on for a while there. I held a lot of anxiety on whether or not I was creative enough to make something happen. At the end of the day all I had to do was brainstorm and I found the ideas flowing. This project also reminded me that I have what it takes to be a leader. I haven’t taken many opportunities to lead or take charge, not control, but in the sense of guiding and making sure things were moving along with the amazing help of my group members. It improved my confidence and is something I hope I can keep working on at home.
In 233, or service learning, I felt a lot of emotions. At times I felt useless, other times it was one of the best parts of my week. And then, when I really started getting the hang of it, I felt like I was kind of starting to become part of the community there. Sant 'Egidio was good at that. On the last day of service, me and the other volunteers from the program, Lorena, Pablo, and Alex, brought a bunch of, as the Italians would call it, biscotti, and a whole lot of coca cola. The refugees were very happy to receive some treats, as well as the rest of the volunteers. Towards the end of the shift, Francesco gave a small speech to us and all the Wednesday people. He gave us a big thank you and announced to the group that we would be leaving. Several refugees said goodbye and had a good laugh spewing any word associated with America they knew, once they found out we were headed back the United States. Heard lots of "New York!!", "California", and "Boston!!". It was a great last service, and I almost cried multiple times as we said our final goodbyes and got hugs from Francesco and Susanna. We all promised to stay in touch and visit if we ever go back to Rome. It was one of my favorite and most vital parts of my study abroad journey.
One of the other things I truly appreciate from this program is the confidence it gave me in knowing that my opinions and thoughts can be important and heard in an educational setting. A lot of this developed from honors 381. For a long time I have been in a majority of stem classes ranging in size between 300 to 500 people. Most of these classes move extremely fast and at times can make me feel really not smart. I get through them and even like what I’m being taught. They just move so fast, are huge, and competitive that I get lost in it all. I forget I have a place at this university and tend to lose my voice, and life starts to get a little robotic. Here I have had the opportunity to zoom back in, work towards educating myself and use it to learn about communities other than my own, develop my own opinions and thoughts, and even connect it back to instances in my own life. I feel like I have been allowed to take up space here and I am very grateful for it. I very much hope it moves back with me in Seattle.
I will miss this experience dearly, and hold it very close to my heart. I have developed relationships, with others and myself, traveled, and learned a lot. I’m really really going to miss my Prati apartment shared with 3 of my now good friends, facing the Fontana di quiriti. Waking up was always a blessing and the birds were always chirping even on the cloudy days.
Thank you so much for following me along on this journey :)
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