England to Italy?
Some of you may be aware that I've been planning on studying abroad in England next Spring. The great news is that I got into the program! And wait for it...
I'm not going?
Yeah. So pretty much immediately after I was accepted to my school's England program, I sat down with my advisor to plan out my schedule for the following semester and we figured out that there is absolutely no way for me to go abroad in the Spring without missing several super important classes to complete my major.
After much panic, I figured out that I will still be able to go abroad in the Fall of my Junior year if I apply to a program outside of Lewis and Clark. The robust study abroad was like maybe 30% of the reason that I chose Lewis & Clark in the first place, so it's kind of a bummer that I'm not reaping the benefits of a school organized program, but alas... you do what you've gotta do.
Luckily, my mentor's other intern studied in Italy with a program called SACI and it sounds like my dream program. It's in Italy (my favorite country out of everywhere I've been) and completely arts focused (with options for studying conservation!). I'll be living in Florence in a shared, fully furnished apartment, a few blocks away from a friend, which is perfect.
My family is going to meet me at the end of my program so that we can travel together before I come home. My parents and I are taking an Italian language class together this summer because we are just SO excited (and a little terrified, if I'm being honest).
So, here we are. I've been accepted into SACI, been approved by Lewis & Clark to go, and now I'm currently in the thick of visa paperwork (which really requires its own separate blog post). I leave early September (which is soon considering I only mentally prepared myself to leave in the spring for England), but it still totally feels surreal.
I just wanted to write a quick post to announce it now that I'm certain I'm going (unless I get denied for a visa I guess). If I have time, I'll try to write some posts on my visa/study abroad experience in case any of you are thinking about traveling overseas.
