Over the past three months, studying abroad has been an enriching experience that has allowed me to immerse myself in a new culture, learn a new language, and gain a broader perspective on the world. Italy, with its rich history, vibrant culture, and world-renowned cuisine, has been a popular destination for students studying abroad and immersing themselves in a different environment. During the first couple of weeks here in the program, we took a Cultural Intelligence (CQ) assessment that measured our personal strengths and weaknesses when thrown into a new culture. This particular test split our results up into four different categories: CQ Knowledge, CQ Drive, CQ Action, and CQ Strategy. Before coming on this study abroad excursion, I would’ve thought myself to be someone who was culturally curious and knowledgeable because I liked to travel with my family. My Cultural Intelligence results told a drastically different story. I was surprised to learn that, in fact, I scored very low in cultural knowledge and drive, meaning that I lacked interest and confidence in new situations, shying away from things that weren’t familiar to me. I realized that I was actually unengaged in topics and was more close-minded to a new culture than I would care to admit. After becoming aware of this weakness and having to strip away my pride, I wanted to challenge myself to really understand and embrace what it means to be curious, engage in conversations with people who are different than me, and place more value on what I could learn from those conversations.
After opening my eyes to my needed improvements, studying abroad in Italy has offered me numerous opportunities for personal growth and progress, benefiting me in life going forward. Having to navigate unique situations, such as language barriers, has pushed me to immerse myself in a new culture by learning Italian phrases and sayings. In the first two or three weeks we were in Ariccia, doing simple things such as ordering at a restaurant or going to the grocery store, became challenging tasks because I was not familiar with the Italian language. I am far from fluent, but with my awareness of my tendencies in unknown situations and wanting to break those habits, I started to learn how to learn simple phrases and words. While it has made everyday life a lot easier, it has also improved my confidence in learning a different language and elevated my active listening skills, which will have lasting benefits academically and professionally. At home, I rarely had the opportunity to be around different types of people with different backgrounds and walks of life. Despite being uncomfortable at first, being in a new culture has illuminated my need to become more open-minded to new people and realize that learning from others offers the opportunity to become more aware and educated in yourself and the vast world around you. Within this newfound need to become more open-minded, I also discovered a passion for people. During our last weeks in Ariccia, we got to see a peak into some of the livelihoods of the migrants in Rome and listen to Issa’s story of immigrating to Italy. Through his story and seeing the hard work of these migrants, I was exposed to the hardships that a lot of immigrants face in their journey to have a new and better life in Italy. By understanding people’s cultures and how they are different and similar to what I’m familiar with, I have learned that, in retrospect, we are all more similar than we realize, just striving for better. Hearing their stories and seeing their joy and resilience has inspired me to exercise more compassion and empathy toward others in life. Compassion is never something that you can have too much of and listening to these stories awakened the emotion within me.
Studying abroad in Italy has been an eye-opening experience, stripping me of familiarity and what I thought to be true. However, these newfound realizations have also offered many invaluable opportunities for personal growth and maturity, embracing my illuminated weaknesses and being more open-minded to improvements. This experience in Italy, with its rich cultural heritage and dynamic environment, has been transformative, providing me with the skills and insights necessary to thrive in an increasingly interconnected world, while possessing more of an awareness and drive to extend compassion to those who are different than me.
– Hollen Blalock, Event Management ’25
