Ciao Katernia,

You’re probably feeling an awful lot of emotions right now: excitement, nervousness, and a thousand questions about what this will feel like. Let me tell you, Florence will change you in ways you never thought possible. 

You’re going to grow in ways that cannot be measured regarding class credits and travel miles. You’ll learn to respect being alone, no longer considered a negative environment to avoid but seen rather as a refuge to treasure. Perhaps you’d stroll through the city after your classes. You’d engage in enchanting self-dialogue at a café whereas normally you’d survey the environment without even thinking about it. It is in these cases that you shall learn what it truly means to be present. 

You’ll discover interests you never allowed yourself to pursue until now: the culture, the art, the food, or the experience of being eternally surrounded by history as you turn in any direction. You will be taking these impressions of Florence back home with you in one way or another; some of them in photos but most of them in how you live your life. Simple things, like an uninterrupted coffee break, would mean the world.

If I could foresee every moment of this journey, I’d have advised you to pack with greater discretion. More warm clothing and rain gear! You will wish the weather had not frazzled you! Other than that, there are a few things that won’t fit in your suitcase: your willingness to adapt, your willingness to step outside your comfort zone, and your willingness to tolerate unpredictability. 

The biggest surprise? How normal it will feel to go to school right near the Duomo. You’ll brush past buildings that are centuries old as if they’re part of your daily routine, and they’ll leave you breathless. The travel will continue to astound you: one weekend you are wandering around Rome, and the next you are sipping coffee in Switzerland. The world will feel smaller and easier to navigate, and you will start to feel a part of something much bigger than yourself.

So drink in this well. Allow yourself to go astray (both literally and metaphorically). Say yes to the scary stuff. In a blink, this journey will be behind you, but the things you learn on the way remain with you for the rest of your life. 

Love,

Future Katherine