Verona, Italy now holds a very special place in my heart, as it is the city that I lived in for five weeks this summer. The memories, experiences, and life-long friends that I gained from this opportunity are ones that I will forever be grateful for. I studied in Verona through USAC whom I did not know much about prior to choosing them. I initially chose it because it fit all the criteria I was looking for time-wise, locationally, and class-wise. The USAC staff turned out to be super helpful and incredibly thoughtful, caring, and fun. While in Italy, we did a couple of field trips with our program. We visited Venice and Lake Garda, both of which included free time for us and guided tours. Verona itself was just the perfect place to study abroad in my opinion. I cannot say
enough good things about it. It had many local attractions such as Juliet’s Balcony, the arena (which is older than the Roman Colosseum!), castles, and so many other things full of history. Verona is also a great size for a study abroad experience. During peak tourist times it did get busy and crowded, but nothing compared to cities like Florence, Rome, and Milan. It was a good home base for us, and every time we went back to Verona after our weekend trips, it felt just like that- home.
On the weekends, most of us traveled in small groups to various places. The first place my roommates and I traveled to was Florence. We got to see the famous David in La Accademia Gallery, see the beautiful Duomo, and explore the city. The second place we traveled to, one of my favorites, was Cinque Terre. This was the perfect relaxing weekend as we were able to hang out on the beautiful beach all weekend. This was the most beautiful beach I have ever been to; pictures do not do it justice. The third weekend a larger group of us traveled to Barcelona, Spain. We explored the beautiful city, spent some time on the beach, and enjoyed the nightlife that Barcelona had to offer. We also were able to immerse ourselves in the Spanish culture for the weekend by trying new foods, speaking their language, etc. The fourth weekend most of our
program took a day trip to Lake Garda. It was absolutely beautiful. We rented a boat for a few hours and danced and swam and took in the views. This was probably my favorite thing we did the entire time there. We spent the last weekend in the Dolomites, a mountain range near Verona. It was a great change of scenery. We got massages, hiked, and explored the surrounding town. It was the perfect way to end our weekend trips. Our last night in Verona, we bought “I love Verona” shirts and hung out at our usual bar. We shared memories, laughs, and tears. This was my hardest goodbye.
Studying abroad gave me a better view of the world, helped break down biases, allowed me to become more independent, and gave me lifelong friends and the best memories.I went into this experience not ever having been out of the country, not knowing the Italian language, and not knowing any other person going. The thought of ever doing something like that scared me since it was far out of my comfort zone. However, once I started meeting fellow students and was able to step foot on the Italian ground, none of that mattered. It helped so much knowing that a majority of the people that I was traveling with were also in the same situation, therefore, it was easy to make friends. We, all forty of us, spent those next five weeks laughing together, traveling
together, missing little things about America together, but mostly being in complete awe of Italy together. We were blessed with an amazing group of people. Almost three weeks later, we are still chatting away in the group chat and have already made plans to make big group trips to some of the cities everyone is from. I would not trade this experience for anything, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to have gone. Everyone should get to experience something like this.
Ashlyn Attaway (BA Studio Art) spent Summer 2024 studying abroad in Verona, Italy through USAC. Ashlyn had the following to say about studying abroad, “Study abroad really is the experience of a lifetime. The cultural understanding, lifelong friends, and memorable experiences gained through an opportunity such as this is more valuable than the money spent, and letting fear hold you back will never be worth it.”
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