As we are approaching the middle of the semester, I’ve had plenty of time to settle in and get used to taking classes in Florence! Currently I am enrolled in four classes: International Marketing, Foundation Drawing, Cross-Cultural Psych, and Italian. These classes are little different from what I would typically take at Pitt, but I feel like they’ve given me a new perspective and experience of my time abroad. I’ve really been enjoying the structure of these classes such as the small class size compared to the big lecture I’m used to taking. I also like how interactive the professors are with the students and the amount of out of class activities we do.

I took International Marketing because it counts as an elective towards my marketing major and we’ve learned a lot about how brands market themselves in Italy as well as other parts of the world. The class is very presentation heavy which I’m not as used to but I feel like it’s improved my skills in that regard. We’re also not allowed to use laptops or any sort of electronic device which has certainly been an adjustment, but I’ve been able to concentrate fully on the lesson. In my Cross-Cultural Psych class we are learning about Italian values in all aspects of life including family, work, and school. We’ve been able to go out on field trips to observe how people are acting in the Italian environment which has been cool.

Drawing was the class I was most nervous about going into since my art skills before this class were nonexistent, but I’ve found myself learning a lot and greatly improving week to week. We’ve grown from drawing vases to drawing plants and are now starting on portraits. Probably my favorite class I’m enrolled in is Italian. I haven’t taken a language course since high school and I’ve forgotten how much fun they can be! This class has been the most useful in growing comfortable living in a foreign country. Since I have Italian three days a week, the information is more easily digestible. Last week we even went to a cafe to practice ordering in Italian which was super exciting. I’ve started to incorporate it into my daily life when at the grocery store or a restaurant. 

Overall, taking classes in Florence has been an amazing experience even though there are many differences between here and Pitt. I’m looking forward to the rest of the semester!