Since we are at the halfway mark of the fall term, I find myself constantly reflecting on where I was midway through my spring term of last year. Last spring, I lived in Rome, Italy, with Carleton’s Off-Campus Studies (OCS) program: History, Religion, and Urban Change in Medieval and Renaissance Rome. For nine and a half weeks, I lived in an apartment that directly faced Saint Peter’s Cathedral. Every day, I would see Saint Peter’s on my route to class and every night on my way home. Living in Rome was the best experience of my life so far. There is something truly incredible about living in a completely new place where you are learning the language while simultaneously learning what everyday Roman life is like.

Through the Carleton history OCS, I was able to see places and art that I would have never thought to see without instruction. During our time, we saw an unfathomable number of apse mosaics and even explored five out of seven of the Roman catacombs. Our days were jam-packed with church visits and museums, which, as a history major, was my ideal day. Not only did we see as much of Rome as we possibly could, but our program directors, Professor Bill North and Professor Victoria Morse, made sure to take us to medieval sites all across Italy. During our nine weeks, we spent time in Venice, Sienna, Sicily, Ravenna and so many more places.

Also, I was lucky enough to be in Rome during a very important time for the city. Not only was it the Jubilee year, which happens in the Catholic calendar every quarter of the century, but Pope Francis also passed away while I was studying in Rome. It isn’t every day that you experience the death of a pope, especially while living quite literally a block from the Vatican walls. I vividly remember the first rosary after Pope Francis’s death, where a couple of friends and I sat in Saint Peter’s Square and experienced the mourning firsthand. This moment was something out of a movie. While the rosary was being recited, the clouds, which had been full coverage and grey all day, opened up into the most beautiful sunset over the square. It was truly a moment that I will never forget.

I even got to attend the inauguration of the first American Pope, Pope Leo ⅩⅣ, who rode passed me in his notorious “Popemobile”. Moments like these, where I was able to fully immerse myself in the present-day events of Rome, are moments that I am so proud of experiencing.

Separate from the crazy historical events that I experienced, I can’t help but also reflect on the sheer amount of growth and learning that living in a new country gave me. I went from being incredibly nervous to even utter “Ciao” to shopowners in my neighborhood to being able to confidently order my food in Italian. I learned how to navigate Roman transportation, taking the bus back and forth to class each day, and even navigating myself to and from the airport with way too many bags. Being back in the United States, I miss the constant challenges of everyday life, whether it be attempting to understand a question in Italian to trying to figure out the train strike alternatives that were all too common in Italy.

My experience abroad in Rome encouraged my confidence in solo travel. After our program excursion to Venice and other parts of Northern Italy, I took a train for eight hours south by myself to explore the Puglia region of Italy. This in itself was a completely new challenge; I was alone, interacting with locals in broken Italian and attempting to see as much as I could. Even though at first solo travel was extremely daunting, it was a fundamental experience for me as it prepared me for my month of solo traveling across Europe following my time in Italy.

As I reflect on my time abroad, I cannot help but mourn the loss of a place I am no longer in. I greatly miss my walks through the city where I would casually see the location of Julius Caesar’s murder and the most beautiful church I have ever laid my eyes on. I miss when it would get dark and Saint Peter’s would light up so that you could see it from anywhere. And most of all, I miss my daily late-night gelato.

For me, studying abroad not only changed me personally but also altered the way I view academics. Through my history OCS, I realized just how passionate I am about studying history. Furthermore, the experience enhanced my study of history as I was able to see what I was studying up close instead of just being in a classroom learning about whatever it was. I came back from Rome as a more confident adult, but also a more confident student who hopes to continue studying history while traveling where I can really interact with the material.

For anyone who is on the fence about studying abroad, in my opinion, it is one of those things that, if you can do it, it might just change your life.