Since coming back from Florence, I cannot seem to shake the bittersweet feeling that lingers. I am so incredibly grateful for the opportunity I had to study abroad and grow in more ways than I can count. My global perspective expanded, I fell in love with Italian culture, and the Italian educational system has inspired my pedagogy. On the contrary, I am saddened that the time has come and gone and my time in Firenze is now a fond memory. I look back at the pictures of me in a country now 4,000 miles away and can hardly believe that my time abroad has come to an end. However, the month of June has afforded me with time to sit down and reflect on how I can apply this experience to my future steps. So, this blog is for the future soon to be Florentine, getting ready to travel abroad.
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Dear you,
I know everyone says this, but you never truly get it until it’s your time to study abroad. The time literally will disappear. The month I had in Florence flew by, and that might even be an understatement. I sat in my room packing my suitcase to return to Pittsburgh barely able to recall unpacking it in the first place. I was surprised at how much I accomplished in such a short time frame. But this is where my first piece of advice comes in. One of the biggest obstacles I faced was none other than myself. I put this pressure on myself to see and do everything. I figured that since I was in Italy, there was no excuse for me not to visit every museum, picnic in every garden, walk across every bridge, and on top of that spend my weekends venturing out to the (somewhat close) cities of Rome and Venice. Even though this was my mindset going into Italy, it changed in about 48 hours tops. Rid yourself of the internal pressure to do everything because you literally cannot.
By the time I overcame the jet lag and adjusted to the time difference, a week had gone by. I quickly decided that it was in my best interest (financially and emotionally) to stay local. Don’t ridicule yourself for needing to spend a weekend relaxing—trust me your body will thank you later. Some of my favorite memories were the days I spent just walking through Florence without any checklist to complete. I stumbled into hidden treasures this way that Yelp and Google would never have led me to. So, my biggest piece of advice is to not get too fixated on your expectations of what studying abroad should look like. Take everything day by day, be grateful for what the day gives you, and understand that your time abroad will look completely different than someone who’s gone ahead of you. There’s no “model” way to study abroad. Take in the fact that you are in a rich, beautiful, and one-of-a-kind culture, and soak it up. And, oh yah, pack an umbrella just to be safe.
On the plane ride back from Florence, I thought about what I was bringing with me back to Pittsburgh. And the one thing that stood out to me was the curiosity and drive to know even more about educational systems outside of the U.S. that was now burning inside of me. I had always thought that I would become a teacher somewhere on the east coast or even on the west I was feeling up for the challenge. I had never considered actually taking myself out of the very system I am so familiar with (for all the good and all the bad), and investigating another one foreign to me. My time in Italy lit a spark inside me to go out and explore varying educational frameworks. To learn more about the field I am preparing to enter by expanding the confines of where I want to teach. Since returning, I have been eagerly looking into programs to potentially teach English in Italy or France. It is my new (and somewhat reinvigorated desire) to spend time immersed in the educational systems that are championed for being some of the best, and bring back my knowledge from my time teaching abroad to inform my practice as a teacher, and potential educational policymaker. This trip taught me that the best way to learn is by going out and living it.
As I bring this to a close, I want to reiterate the following. Prepare for the unexpected and be flexible with your expectations. Start anticipating one of the most transformative times of your life. Get ready to start immediately searching for flights back to Italy once you arrive home. And journal! I know everyone is preoccupied with taking pictures, but it is such a cool thing to look back and read how you felt in real-time. Most of all, take it in, savor it, and never forget the privilege that studying abroad is.
This is me signing off and I wish you the very best of luck with your unique studying abroad experience!
Buon Viaggio,
Victoria