To Italy, With Love

I cannot believe my eight weeks in Milan have come to an end. It seems like just yesterday I was getting ready to leave home for those eight weeks. I remember feeling so nervous because I had no idea what to expect. Reflecting on my time in Milan, I am honestly so happy I chose IES Abroad for my study abroad program and even happier that I chose Milan.

Milan truly became my home away from home, and I was able to meet so many amazing people from all over. My abroad experience was somewhat different because I did an internship, not just taking classes. However, I found this to be an extremely valuable experience. Going abroad, let alone working there, teaches you a lot about yourself and what you want in life. You have to learn to quickly adapt to a situation that is completely foreign to you, within a short amount of time. My internship experience also helped me identify what I may or may not want for myself in my life professionally.

Now this post isn’t meant to make my experience seem like it was perfect. I had numerous difficulties while abroad. I was taking the Italian language course, but I am obviously not fluent in Italian, so there was always a language barrier. I also had to adjust to the large time difference. I was six to eight hours ahead of my family and friends, so communication while I was abroad proved to be very difficult. I think coming into the program I was worried about making friends and getting along with my roommates. Unlike some students I met in this program, no one else from my school participated. I got extremely lucky though. I had the most amazing roommates and Community Assistant (CA), and the students in my program were all nice, as well. We all got along great; our internship seminar professor even commented on how great the dynamic of our class was.

I was able to do so much in the eight weeks I was in Milan. My roommates and I traveled every weekend to either a new city in Italy or some other country. A lot of the internship supervisors are familiar with the IES Abroad program because of past interns and were more than willing to give students Fridays off so that we could travel on the weekends. I also got to eat such amazing food! Italian food was always a favorite of mine, but being in the birthplace of pizza was truly amazing. I did not have one bad dish the entire time I was in Italy.

It’s true what people say about studying abroad being one of the best experiences you’ll have in life. If you are thinking about studying or an internship abroad, I highly recommend it. There is absolutely nothing like it. I remember always thinking how amazingly lucky I was to be spending my summer abroad, especially in Italy. I am sad my eight weeks abroad has come to an end, but I am so grateful I got to have this experience. Thank you for following along with me on this journey, and I hope you get to make amazing memories abroad as well. Ciao!