Study in a overseas kingdom - to change the humankind, you be acquainted with the world

Studying abroad is something that everyone should do at a young age. I feel that education abroad experience helps shape people's attitudes about life; helps with opening the mind of other people, cultures and ways of living life.

The opportunity to study abroad - in Italy - came my way through the upward bound initiative at Kent State University. The program works with students like me to our college-ready and increase educational opportunities for students in the first-generation, low-income families.

I was upward Bound student for about five years and I have formed many connections on campus. So when I was told about the possibility of under-served incoming Kent State students to study abroad, I knew it would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience that will be useful for me.

One thing that amazed me is that Italy has such a rich and beautiful culture. While in Florence, I took 'Roman work' class, which tells the influence of the Roman Empire in Europe.

It's amazing to see that Florence still has some of the same buildings that were built in the Roman Empire. Looking anywhere in Florence is like looking at a piece of history or art. Everywhere there are stories of success and victory.

Acceptance

I took Italian elementary class, and it's easy to pick up on the language, because I was immersed in a culture that he says. Florentine people were very helpful and I felt accepted in their culture.

In Florence, I felt free. I was free to be who I am and I did not have to worry about not being accepted. Every day I passed pizzeria. One day I went and met the woman who ran the place. The next day I went to the pizza place again, and she hugged me and asked if I wanted my 'usual'.

This woman looked different from me. She was tall, had olive-toned complexion and beautiful blue eyes, and I was dark-complexioned girl. She was accepted for who I was. We players during my time there, and I visited almost every day.

People began to refer to her as my Italian mother. I do not know a lot of people would just open their arms to a complete stranger, after just one day to meet them. Maybe I never knew how to accept other cultures can be, if you have not studied abroad last summer.

I became more aware of the differences between the Italian and American culture.

One thing that really helped me grow the fact that in Florence, the color of your skin holds no obstacles. I discovered that in Italy, regardless of your skin, nationality or ethnic origin, they do not tell you of.

Italians, in my opinion, embrace the people and that has helped shape his worldview. I learned that not every society is like American society and each culture deals with issues of race or skin color the way we do in America.

Something about experiencing a different culture and a different group of people makes you feel a little enlightened. For me, the world before the trip to Italy was a small town of Ravenna, Ohio, where I grew up, a small town of Kent, Ohio, where I attend college.