I’m supposed to start off by introducing myself and explaining why I chose my program, so here it goes…

My name is Ariel and I will be participating in the multi-country CISabroad program “Heart of the Renaissance: Italy and France.” In this program I will be spending a month in Rome, Italy, with a weekend trip to Florence, then another month in Paris, France.

I chose this specific program for many reasons. First of all, I’m an International Studies major, with a regional focus of Europe and language focus of French. Being an International Studies major requires me to study abroad for 2 months in order to receive my degree. I knew that I wanted to study abroad in France so that I could practice and perfect my French. I also knew I would prefer to study abroad in the summer, but many summer programs are less than 2 months long. This program is not only the perfect amount of time I need to study abroad, but it also focuses on countries in Europe (my regional focus) and I’ll get to spend a month in France working on my French.

I toured Europe a few years ago and I would have to say Italy was my favorite country that I visited (although I loved them all!) When I went, I visited Verona and Venice. I absolutely loved these cities and I wanted to see more of Italy. When I saw there was a program that included both France AND Italy, I was immediately interested. Now, I’ll be able to see Rome, Florence, and maybe a few more Italian cities!

Lastly, I wanted to participate in this program because of the art and language focus of the classes. As a linguistics minor, I absolutely love languages. I will be taking a beginning Italian class and an advanced French class. And I’ve always wanted to take an art history class and a photography class, both of which I will be taking during this study abroad experience. That’s why I knew this program was for me.