I studied abroad in Florence, Italy for the spring 2001 semester, during my junior year. It was a wonderful experience. I went through Beaver College (now called Arcadia University, for obvious reasons), and I would highly recommend their program for anyone who wants to spend a semester in Italy. There are many study abroad programs in Florence, but most go >through a school that caters only to American students. Beaver sends its students to the Accademia Italiana, an international school that specializes in art and design. In addition to American students, you meet students from all over Europe and even South America and Asia, which I think adds tremendously to the study abroad experience.

I'd lived abroad before this semester, but not in Europe, so while I wasn't surprised by the un-American environment and attitude of Florence, I was thrilled to visit a whole new continent and culture. Florence is a beautiful city; it seems like every time you turn around there's a fabulous piece of art or architecture. I loved being able to see places I've only read about or seen in movies (some of us saw Hannibal while we were there, and while we hated the movie, it was great to be able to say on the way home things like, "Oooo, look, that's where he killed that guy!"). I took an art history class on the Italian Renaissance that met twice a week, once for a lecture and once to go visit the things we'd just learned about. You just can't do that at Harvey Mudd.

The really great part of studying abroad was the opportunity for travel. Florence is only an overnight train ride away from places like Paris, Barcelona, Vienna and Geneva, and only a short (and cheap!) flight away from Greece and Turkey. Not to mention all the wonderful places in Italy itself. I feel so much more comfortable and confident about travelling by myself and about travelling without a plan now.

So for anyone else thinking about studying abroad-either with this program or elsewhere-I say, go for it! You'll never have a chance like this again. Just remember to bring a journal, a guidebook and an open mind.