Author: Maggie Richey | Major: Biology | Semester: Summer 2025

This is one of my classes in Marine Biology presenting their final presentation over their designated animal. We were given specific taxonomy and were able to pick any animal within that Order and Class to present over.                            

Studying abroad in Sorrento, Italy,  was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I was therefor 5 weeks, from July 7th to August 9th. I had never been to Italy before so I fell in love with it. I knew it would be a great place for me to go. I had not been to the coastal area of Italy, though, so I thought that would be a great new experience for me. The coastal area of Italy was so different from the other parts of Italy I had been to in all aspects. I would have to say that I loved it even more than the part I had been to before, which I did not think was possible. During my 5 weeks in Sorrento, Italy, I took two classes. One class was The History of Italian Food and Culture, and the other class was Marine Biology. Both of these classes had field trips, midterms, finals, and final presentations. In The History of Italian Food and Culture, we took two different field trips; one to a buffalo mozzarella farm and one to a pasta factory. Both of these field trips were informational and taught me much about the culture behind these specific foods in Italy. At both field trips, we were able to try fresh buffalo mozzarella and then try different types of pasta. In Marine Biology, we also had two different field trips; one to a wildlife preservation bay and one to an aquarium. The bay was called Ieranto Bay, and at this location we snorkeled and kayaked. During snorkeling, we saw many different types of marine life— algae, sea cucumber, fish, even a squid. In the final presentation in The History of Italian Food and Culture, we were given flexibility on what we wanted to present over. We were allowed to present over things such as comparison of food in America versus Italy, different types of food we had in Italy, rankings of a certain type of food at different restaurants in Italy, etc. My presentation was over different restaurants within Sorrento, Italy, and why I liked and disliked each of them. In the final presentation in Marine Biology, we were each given a specific phylum, class, and order, and we were allowed to pick an animal to present over within this taxonomy. The presentation had to include many different things, such as life cycle, reproduction, habitat, and diet. I presented over the Great White Shark. Since we were only there for 5 weeks, we wanted to make the most of each weekend, since that was the only time we would have multiple days in a row with no school. Each weekend, we took a different trip somewhere, whether it was a train or flight away. One of the places we went was Paris, France. The culture there was so different from Italy in many different ways. They seemed less hospitable in France, as well as less food-centered. It seemed as though Italy was very proud of their food and saw food as more than just nutrition, but as art. Paris was also definitely dirtier than where we stayed in Italy, but it was hard to compare because the town we were in in Italy wasn’t as tourist-filled as Paris. I enjoyed being able to compare cultures of different countries within Europe, though. I am beyond grateful for this opportunity and for the financial support I was given to make this adventure possible. This is something I will talk about for the rest of my life.