Harvey Scholar Travels - Amanda in Rome

As you can probably ascertain from this abridged journal entry, day one was a doozy.

Despite all the research and planning, all the fabricated scenarios and solutions, all the pep talks I had given myself and the attempts to manage my expectations, I felt completely lost.

I now realize that no amount of studying could have prepared me for my six weeks in Rome, and that’s okay.

Life isn’t an exam. 

Trastevere, or (what I believe is) the most picturesque neighborhood in Rome

Instead of a central campus, John Cabot University is located throughout Trastevere, meaning I spent many hours traversing those cobblestone streets (much to the dismay of my tennis shoes). I was constantly disoriented, but I always arrived at my destination and the unintentional detours allowed me to really explore and appreciate the beautiful neighborhood.

The classroom environment was comforting in its familiarity, but other than the physical setting and engineering lessons, John Cabot seemed nothing like Mines. Even though I was mostly amongst peers from other American universities, I was intimidated by the social dynamic.

I felt like everyone instantly found a group of friends and started to make travel plans, and I really did not want to navigate Italy alone, so I tried to jump right in along with everyone else. I wouldn’t say I regret this or any other decision I made on this trip, but I did end up in less than desirable social situations at times for the sake of having a group of travel buddies. That being said, I made some incredible friends during my time in Rome, and I really explored what I value in meaningful relationships.

And along with all the typical university challenges came the adjustment of living in a foreign country with customs much different than my own. While this certainly had a learning curve, I really enjoyed immersing in another culture and growing out of the “tourist” role. In a way, it almost forced me to navigate the country with confidence, allowing me to truly enjoy the experience without constantly worrying about every logistic.

Overall, my time in Rome was definitely a period of growth. I came into the semester so worried about how I was going to make everything work out that I wasn’t able to enjoy the things that did. And I’m starting to accept that success isn’t always defined by knowing all the answers. In this case, success was embracing that I didn’t know all the answers but still choosing to go out and bask in all there is yet to learn.