Benvenuti a Roma

On Monday, the message popped into my inbox.

I held my breath.

The email’s subject read, “Congratulations.”

“Dear Brienne, You have been admitted to the JFRC Rome Summer session.”

Thank you, Office of International Programs, for making my week.  Since Monday I haven’t been able to stop daydreaming about Rome.  I’ve been imagining the coliseums, the cathedrals, and the panoramic hillside views, not to mention all the pictures I will take.  I’ve been reading up on classes offered and weekend trips to Pompeii, all the books I will read, and all the students I will meet.  I’ve been translating everything I hear into Italian and gradually attempting to learn the language’s basics.

Before Loyola, I never would’ve guessed that I would be studying European history and philosophy in Rome, the epicenter of liberal arts.   All the artists, authors, and intellectuals I studied last year in Honors seminar hold their ties to Rome’s rich history.  Now I can see Michelangelo’s frescoes and statues in person, not on a computer screen.  Now I can attend Mass at the center of the Catholic world.  Now I have the chance to explore the rich origins of Rome firsthand.

Moreover, I never would’ve imagined that the opportunity was out there for a molecular biology major like me.   What a complete change of pace this summer will be for me, as I shift from genetic mapping and reaction mechanisms to political theory and aesthetics.  I’m lucky to attend Loyola, where I can study such diverse subjects under one undergraduate career and ultimately become a more well-rounded individual as a result.

This summer in Italy will hopefully be the first of many adventures abroad I take.  I’ll keep you posted….

Until next post, a fra poco! Ciao!