Lizzie McGuire Moment!
Author: Emma Phillips | Major: Accounting
March 30th, the day before the study abroad application deadline, I found myself in a meeting with a study abroad advisor discussing studying abroad in the upcoming summer. Yes, I was exploring my options two months before the program began. I had plans to study abroad in Africa the summer before, but unfortunately the pandemic put that to an end. It seemed as if that summer between my sophomore and junior year would be the only time I would have the opportunity to study abroad. However, my junior year was coming to an end, and I felt I was being pulled to study abroad that summer. That is when I scheduled a meeting with a study abroad advisor to see if it was even a possibility.
When I met with the advisor, she told me about a couple programs that would be happening in the summer. She told me about a program called CIMBA which was in a rural town of northern Italy and offered a course that would satisfy part of my legal studies minor. That was when I knew this was the program for me. I had recently added my legal studies minor, so I was going to have to take a summer class anyway. This program was meeting a variety of my academic and professional goals. It was providing me credit for my minor and offered a class I was planning on taking in the fall. In my professional career, I hope to be assigned to projects one day that will require me to live and work in a foreign country. Therefore, this program gave me insight to what that would be like. I experienced the language barrier, learning new skills in a foreign place, social norms, and adapting to a new culture; all things I will do when I work aboard. In addition to the courses offered, the professors that are a part of this program are the best you will get. Kim Patrone and Molly Rapert, both well-known and respected professors at the University of Arkansas, were the two professors I had. One of my courses was global consumer, in this course we studied the government structure, citizen struggles, and economy of China and Ethiopia. I greatly enjoyed this course because of the discussion-based structure and how it expanded my way of thinking.
Every weekend we were able to travel somewhere. Typically, students travel all over Europe, but due to the pandemic we were required to stay in Italy. Personally, I loved this because I was able to experience all the different cultures within one country. My favorite thing about Italy was the richness of the history. It was amazing to me how much has been preserved from centuries ago. However, the biggest culture shock was the transportation system. To travel anywhere, you take a train. At first glance it seemed simple, we would buy a ticket and get on the train. We quickly learned that with “one” ticket you had many connecting trains. You would get on anywhere from 3-6 different trains and typically, those trains did not stay on schedule. We often missed our connections because a train was late. Many times, I felt like I was on the show “Amazing Race” running through the train station with my big backpack on.
This study abroad program gave me more than I could have ever imagined. Sure, I learned a lot in the classroom, made great connections with professors, and got to explore a foreign country, but ultimately, I was pushed out of my comfort zone and learned about myself. I would highly recommend this program to anyone considering it. Being in a rural town in Italy I was able to live in the beauty of the mountains and suburbs of Italy, but then travel to the busy city life of Italy. It truly was the best of both worlds. As I mentioned earlier, I found out about this program two months before my plane departed. I hope this shows you it truly is never too late to plan your study abroad experience and what is meant to be will work out.