{"id":7683,"date":"2025-02-03T14:03:57","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T19:03:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/center-global-education\/?p=7683"},"modified":"2025-02-03T14:03:58","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T19:03:58","slug":"home-away-from-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/center-global-education\/2025\/02\/03\/home-away-from-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Home Away From Home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I was so eager to get on that plane to Rome. Though I was a little scared about being in a new country, I was ultimately excited to start this new adventure. I had never been to Italy or Europe, so I didn\u2019t know what to expect. My three best friends and I decided to study abroad together in Florence, Italy, and it was the best decision I could have made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The first week was our orientation travel week. We started in Rome and then traveled by bus through Tuscany, eventually making our way to Florence. It was a little anxiety-inducing meeting everyone from my orientation group, the people I would be spending the next three months with. During this week, we visited places like St. Peter’s Basilica, the Colosseum, and breathtaking villas in the Tuscan countryside. Once we got to Florence after orientation, I would soon find out where I would be staying for the next few months and who my roommates would be. My apartment was even cuter than I could have ever imagined. When you opened our living room window, you could smell pizza from the restaurants down below. You could hear the chatter of people walking around, and the sound of music coming from the street. I couldn\u2019t wait to settle in and call this place home for the fall semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As I started to adapt, I began to meet new friends and explore Florence. We started to find our favorite restaurants, coffee shops, and even thrift stores. I definitely did not save enough money, so if I wanted to travel on the weekends, I had to pick and choose where I wanted to go and find the cheapest ways to get there. The first trip I went on was to Lake Como, Italy. My friends and I took a boat trip around the lake and saw beautiful mansions, including George Clooney’s house. That trip was the perfect, relaxing getaway. Our next trip was to Switzerland. We traveled to Zurich, Interlaken, and Bern. Bern was my favorite. It was the ideal cozy fall town. But the place that topped them all was Paris. It was absolutely magical; it was everything I could have imagined. My favorite memory from that trip was when my friend and I had a picnic under the Eiffel Tower and called all of our friends and family as it lit up and sparkled. But after every trip, I was always so excited to go back to Florence. It had a charm that the other places I visited didn\u2019t have. I loved the smell of food everywhere, the cobblestone streets, and the churches that I couldn\u2019t even conceptualize as being so old. I remember learning so much about Italian art and history in high school, and it was unreal seeing the photos from my textbooks come to life in real life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I couldn\u2019t have done any of it without going through my program, ISEP. My main worry was finances and how much study abroad would cost. ISEP wants you to experience this life-changing opportunity, and their mission is to break down the financial and academic barriers to make study abroad accessible for each student. Now, being back home, I would take the next flight to Italy in a heartbeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mackenzie Sweat\u00a0(BS Communication) spent Fall 2024 studying abroad in Florence, Italy through ISEP<\/a>. Mackenzie had the following to say about studying abroad,\u00a0\u201cTake the leap. Don\u2019t be afraid. I was so stressed about being in an unfamiliar environment, especially going to a new country. Studying abroad will force you to step out of your shell and will make you more confident than you were. You\u2019ll meet so many people, and some will even become long-term friends. While you are abroad, you\u2019ll experience textbook history firsthand; it\u2019s truly incredible. If you\u2019re thinking about studying abroad, just do it. You\u2019ll regret it if you don\u2019t.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I was so eager to get on that plane to Rome. Though I was a little scared about being in a new country, I was ultimately excited to start this new adventure. I had never been to Italy or Europe, so I didn\u2019t know what to expect. My three best friends and I decided to… <\/p>\n

Continue Reading <\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1215,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6740,48248],"tags":[73812,73822,73811,73813],"class_list":{"0":"post-7683","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-center-for-global-education","7":"category-study-abroad","8":"tag-global-education","9":"tag-global-mocs","10":"tag-mocs-abroad","11":"tag-wanderlust","12":"entry","13":"has-post-thumbnail"},"yoast_head":"\nHome Away From Home - Center for Global Education Archive: Jul 2007 - Oct 2025<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Home Away From Home - Center for Global Education Archive: Jul 2007 - Oct 2025\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I was so eager to get on that plane to Rome. 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