Exploring Rome!
Author: Caroline King | Major: Biology | Semester: Summer 2023
Ciao! My name is Caroline King. I am a Fulbright student majoring in Biology and minoring in Medical Humanities. I plan to attend medical school after graduation. I studied abroad in Italy with CIMBA through the University of Iowa for four weeks this summer. The CIMBA Italy program sparked my interest right from the start, as a large number of Arkansas students study abroad with CIMBA and speak very highly of the program. I started to research the highly accredited courses available to me and I found a few options that would fulfill my graduation requirements as well as advance my academic and professional goals.
I took two 3-hour courses while abroad, Classical Mythology and Italy Live. Taking these courses made me a more well-rounded student, which is something that medical schools search for in their applicants. Additionally, the global experiences gained from studying in Italy have provided me with real-world professional and collaborative skills. The Classical Mythology course deepened my appreciation for ancient art and provided me with the tools to be able to understand the context of many renowned pieces of artwork. The course also equipped me with a greater understanding of ancient epics, like Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, Ovid’s Metamorphoses, and Virgil’s Aeneid. These epics are deeply rooted in Italy’s culture, and I found that having a greater understanding of them has helped me to better appreciate and understand Italian culture. Italy Live is an introductory course into the Italian language. What better place to be learning the Italian language than in Italy! In this course, we were provided numerous opportunities to use our Italian skills in the real world on our afternoon field trips to neighboring cities. We learned basic Italian, such as how to introduce ourselves and how to order at a cafe, as well as an introduction to grammar, sentence structure, and extensive vocabulary. Both of my instructors for the courses were outstanding! Both were passionate about teaching, their students, and their love for the CIMBA study abroad program. These courses differed from those at the UofA in that they were slightly smaller in size and had students from numerous universities across the country, such as the University of Kansas, University of Iowa, and West Virginia University.
The three travel weekends provided me with many valuable cultural experiences. From getting to know the locals of Paderno del Grappa and Asolo, our home bases for the month, to trying the “piatti tipici” in every city we visited, I learned so much, not only about the city we were visiting but myself as well. Each of the Italians I had the pleasure of meeting were some of the most pleasant and hospitable people I have ever met. They appreciated my efforts in attempting to speak their language, and even offered helpful tips when I didn’t have it quite right! One of the cultural elements I found most interesting was how different the architecture was from city to city. Florence is so different from Cinque Terre, which is so different from Venice, which is one of the reasons I think Italy and Italian culture is so unique. I greatly admired how proud every Italian person is of their heritage and how they want to share what they are passionate about with us.
I would highly recommend CIMBA Italy to other students! I had nothing but an amazing experience and would do it all over again in a heartbeat. It was so much fun getting to meet students and instructors from across the country while on campus. CIMBA not only cares about advancing their students’ educations but cares about their success in the professional world and cultural experiences while traveling as well. The first thing I am going to do when I return home is give my family a big hug! Then I plan on hitting a few of my favorite restaurants and drinking an ice-cold Diet Coke (a rare commodity in Europe). I cannot recommend this program enough; it was truly one of the best months of my life! Thank you, CIMBA Italy, and thank you Honors College!