Ciao! My name is Malia, and I’m currently studying abroad in Florence, Italy through the University of Pittsburgh’s Global Business Institute. I’ve always been interested in international relations, and I knew I wanted to incorporate this passion into my studies while pursuing a marketing degree. Studying abroad, in many ways, felt like an inevitable part of my college career, but I am so grateful to watch it actually come to fruition this semester. Although I’ve only been overseas for one month, I feel as though I have seen and learned so many new things, and I know beyond any doubt I’ll be returning to the States with a new perspective on the world we live in. 

While it’s true that I always imagined myself studying abroad, I never really envisioned myself in Florence until I received my acceptance letter in the Fall. Though I wasn’t partial towards any specific country, Italy has shaped up to be an absolute dream of a location, exceeding any and all expectations I had for what this experience would be like. Florence itself is full of kindhearted locals and an abundance of history, and our host school, CEA CAPA, could not be more helpful when it comes to the resources we are provided with. I’m lucky enough to be taking four classes that I find engaging and insightful: International Marketing, Renaissance Art History, a course on Dante’s literature, and a baseline Italian language course. In addition to all of the cultural immersion and sightseeing, it’s a great feeling to be taking classes that are genuinely enjoyable and make me excited to be in the classroom.  

In addition to my coursework, I’m also quite fortunate in terms of the housing accommodations I’ve been provided with. I’m currently living in an apartment merely five minutes away from the city’s Duomo cathedral, with all of my academic buildings less than ten minutes beyond. Our building itself houses native Italians as tenants, but our apartment is shared amongst five University of Pittsburgh students—two in one bedroom, three in another. I really love the fact that we get to intermingle with locals in our apartment complex, and I am especially fond of how centrally located we are.  

For the first two weeks of being in Florence, there was certainly a bit of an acclimation hurdle. Culture shocks, jet lag, maintaining relationships from afar, and a general uneasiness toward the unknown made everything feel unnecessarily overwhelming in the beginning. However, I’ve since grown incredibly comfortable with this new reality I’m living, and I can now say I maneuver life abroad with confidence and ease. There are definitely some differences between Pitt and CEA CAPA that make for a bit of a learning curve: smaller class sizes, fewer buildings, heavy participation grades, and students from all over the country combined into one classroom. I see this not as a struggle but as an exciting opportunity to learn in a new environment, to adapt and be flexible in both my studies and socialization. 

Moving forward, my most prominent goal for this semester is simply to enjoy every moment and be as present as possible. I hope to continue succeeding academically while becoming as culturally immersed as one can be, seeing and doing anything and everything while I have the chance. I want to absorb as much as I possibly can, so as to return to the States with a new sense of identity, knowledge, cultural understanding, and perspective on life.  I can’t wait to see what comes next!