I would like to start by thanking everyone who made it possible for me to go study abroad in Italy. When I first learned that I was going I was ecstatic. To be able to travel to a foreign country in the middle of a pandemic seemed improbable which is why I didn’t believe it was real until my flight took off. 

My time in Italy was not defined by what I learned in the classroom but instead what I experienced outside of it. It was however a welcome change to finally be back in a classroom for the first time in over a year. The world outside of the classroom may have been where I learned the most though. Being able to walk through the streets of Rome, a city that I had been learning about since I was in elementary school, was a surreal experience. I could walk down a random road and see Roman ruins that I had previously seen only in textbooks was probably the coolest part of being there. Everywhere I went I was surrounded by thousands of years of history. There is nowhere in America where you can get the same experience. 

Not only did I get to experience all that Rome had to offer but I also got a chance to explore various other Italian cities. Some of the friends that I had made during my time in Rome and I went on weekend trips to various places in order to get the full Italian experience. We went to Florence, Venice, Napoli, Pompeii and the Amalfi coast. Each city had something new to offer. To be able to explore all these different places was something I previously could have only dreamed of. Going to Italy was a once in a lifetime experience that I am very thankful for having been able to do.

Name: Maxwell Asher
Status: Junior
Major: Economics
Hometown: Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
Program: American University of Rome in Italy