Truly, I don't know where to begin when it comes to my visit to Venice, Italy. I have been looking forward to the moment I stepped onto the island since I can remember. I had a preconception of what I would see, but my expectations were exceeded more than I could have imagined. The pictures I have can in no way do justice for what I saw on this island and I could never put into words the true beauty of Venice.
The moment I stepped off of the train and walked to the water, I started crying. I tried to hold it together but I simply couldn't help myself from bawling my eyes out. We walked from the train to our taxi boat and caught a ride over to our island, Lido. During the ride, I put my headphones in to listen to music and just soaked everything in (while crying of course). Venice represented the end of our first semester abroad and I wasn't sure how to feel about that. I feel like I have learned so much in such a short amount of time and can't imagine how much I will learn in the next semester. I have learned to let go of some things in life, not everything has to be so serious. This is something I really needed to learn and will be something I continuously remind myself of. I have been introduced to many new situations and different types of people, which I am thankful for. I think there are many things someone can learn from stepping out of their comfort zones and immersing themselves in a new culture.
For my architecture history class, my group did a presentation over Italy and its main historical sites. Because of this I was able to learn quite a bit, so being able to see the things I learned was incredible. Doge's Palace, Saint Marks Basilica, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and many more sites all on the relatively small island of Venice (actually made up of 117 tiny islands). An important aspect of my time abroad has been learning material through application in my experiences. I fully believe that studying abroad has enhanced my ability to take in the knowledge that I would normally learn in a classroom. Being able to implement curriculum into my daily life has been more beneficial for me than hearing a professor stand and talk about something in the middle of a lecture hall. This semester has been full of learning and I am eager to see what the next semester holds. One of our classrooms said it best when they said, "Italy has become our classroom". For me Venice wasn't just another classroom, but my favorite classroom.