Ciao! My name is Nathan Fawcett and I am a junior at the University of Pittsburgh pursuing a double major in Supply chain management and Business Information Systems. I chose the GBI in Florence program because of my family ties to Italy. Both my grandparents immigrated from Italy, specifically the Abruzzo region of central Italy. They immigrated to the United States at just 18 years old, speaking no English and having to start completely over from absolutely nothing. Fast forward 60 years and their hard work, perseverance and determination has given me the opportunity to study abroad in the country they once called home. One of my main goals is to be able have a conversation in Italian with my grandmother when I return home. Beyond that, I aspire to submerge myself within the culture, truly understanding my family’s heritage and beginning. Furthermore, I want to be able to travel and navigate my way through Europe independently, learning how to be more self-reliant, while capturing as many memories as I possibly can. This is an experience very few students are fortunate enough to have and I don’t want to waste a second of it. 

Throughout my first couple of weeks in Florence, the main difference between CAPA and the University of Pittsburgh is the class schedule. Back home, I am accustomed to having each individual class twice a week for an hour and fifteen minutes but here in Florence we only have class once a week for two and a half hours. It’s a little hard to stay attentive for the full two and a half hours but our teachers here do a phenomenal job in keeping the students engaged and focused for the full duration of class. That leads me into my second observation, which is class sizes. Back at Pitt, almost all of my classes have one hundred plus students, making it hard at times to feel an actual connection with the teacher. Here In Florence, our class sizes don’t even exceed 20 students, making the connection between student and teacher as well as other classmates much stronger. I’ve found the smaller class size benefits my learning much more. You can’t just hide in the back of the classroom, you must stay engaged, focused and ready to be called on.

Moving forward, my living situation in Florence is one I am truly grateful for. My apartment is located just 3 minutes from the CAPA building and is surrounded by a number of local coffee shops, restaurants, historic buildings and areas to explore each and every day. I live with 5 other Pitt students who I barely knew or didn’t know at all before I arrived, but we get along better than I could have ever expected. We enjoy each other’s company and are getting closer to one another as the days go on. All in all, because of these factors my adaption to Florence has been rather easy and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the semester has to offer.