Last year, when I finally decided where I wanted to study abroad, my brother gave me a small gift: a guidebook of Argentina accompanied by a letter from him. He had recently come back from his semester abroad in Rome and, after having an experience he pins as completely life-changing, wanted to share the insights he had gained in order so that I too could make the most of my experience when it was finally my time to go abroad too.

My semester in Rome is rapidly approaching and I couldn’t be more excited. I'm going to be studying film and Italian culture as well as hopefully interning in Rome. I can't wait to see all that I am going to learn as a student and as a visitor in Rome. I'm so curious to see what it will be like living in Rome for several months. It will be very interesting having a completely new home, with the normal school routine, but in a completely different school setting.

Hello! My name is Jenny Qian and this is my pre-departure video for Milan! 

Planning for your semester abroad involves many important things, such as making a budget, scheduling your classes, organizing travel, and packing everything you might need since home isn’t just a two-day shipment away anymore. While all of these aspects of preparation are very important, one fun aspect of preparation that I’ve been focusing on is my wardrobe for Rome. I have always loved fashion, though usually, I tend to admire it from afar.

There is something about mountains that take my breath away every time I lay my eyes on them. Perhaps its their sheer enormity; their grandeur reminds me that their formation has required millions of years. Or, it’s their vastness; As the opposite slopes designating the beginning of the Peak rise miles away from each other; and then, precipitously and relentlessly, the grade increases until the two slopes meet in dramatic fashion, forming a ridge line that kisses the clouds and puts any Manhattan skyscraper to shame.

The rush of heading abroad, leaping into the Old World, a new world for me, is beginning to take hold. These days, my mind is running through flashes of images, one rotating into the next – a dish of pasta, some faraway European excursion, sights of Tuscan hills, a glass of vino on the piazza, a rocking train bound for a nearby Italian wonder. The dish of pasta takes many forms in these mental slideshows, I’ll admit, with clams or prawns or in a classic red sauce.

For 15 years I have started school in late August, had a break from late December to January, and then enjoyed my summer vacation starting in May. But Germany has pulled an ol’ switcharoo on me! My program in Freiburg, Germany doesn’t start until February 26th, and it ends in late June…this means that for about two months, I will be basking in the glory that is the limbo of winter break.

This past Christmas was no typical Christmas. Rather than waking up and opening presents with my beloved family, we slung our suitcases into the car and took a nine hour drive down to Miami where we hopped on our flight to Budapest. Since arriving in Europe on the 26th, I have traveled to Budapest, Vienna, Innsbruck, Munich, Palermo and Tunis.

What’s the worst thing you could lose while traveling abroad? Your cash? Your credit cards? No, how about your passport? Imagine losing all of those things at once. I love to travel and have travelled abroad for years and that has been my worst nightmare. And it happened to me thirty minutes after landing in Nice, France to study abroad.

There are only three days left until I embark on the experience of a lifetime. In seventy-two hours, I will be boarding the first of three planes with my eyes set on one destination, Milan-Italy. My ambition is sky-high and my nerves are speeding up. Months of preparing for this opportunity and years of dreaming about studying abroad are finally here.